The Hacker
by iBoy
Summary: A Minecraftian wakes up in the middle of the forest, with no knowledge of his previous life. He knows that he has to survive. But something is different. Some sort of power is within this Minecraftian. A different power. A power that would change the world. Rated T, just in case. All OC characters.
1. Chapter 1 - The Wild Arc: Waking Up

Lost. Confused. Sounds I can barely hear, voices whispering. I can only catch a few words...

"Is ... ready?"

"Eve... seems re... the alterat... holding."

"What... location."

"Forest..."

"Good. Drop him... wake him up."

I gasp, eyes popping wide open. I get up from where I was lying down. I feel myself, arms, legs, head. Everything seems to be there. I check my surrounding. I find myself in a forest, deep in the forest. The sun is up, and seeing it I instantly know its 6:45pm. Wait, how do I know that?

Then I see my body fully. My arms and legs are... covered in the joints with some sort of... metal. I try taking these off, but they are firmly attracted to my body. I also notice some sort of metal device attached to both my arms. Then I feel my head.

"Oh Notch."

Some sort of piece was covering my right eye. Or was my right eye. My head had some sort of device attached to it. It didn't cover my black hair, but was on the right side of my head, covering the ear and the back of my head. I found another device covering the other ear too. Then this metal... thing went down my spine, and I feel some more metal over my heart.

I lifted my shirt up to see my heart.

"Oh..."

I drop my shirt in shock. There was some sort of device covering the area over my heart, metal running from it to the spine, and I notice that right where my heart would be on my chest, was a circle with a red... circle over it.

I then thought "I'm ... changed. From my old body to... this." Then I think:

"What did my old body look like?"

I then realise that I couldn't remember anything from before I was dumped in the middle of the forest.

"Oh no... oh Notch no..."

I began leaning against the tree, then sliding down it when I realise I lost my memory, slowing going into a panic attack.

"Note: Time is now 7:00pm. User is advised to find shelter before mob rising occurs."

There was this text on my vision. Then I see that there was more than that. There was a HUD on my vision, stating hunger, health, inventory, radar, map, location info, potion effect, and hacks. I somehow know what these thing are, know how to use them, know that to open inventory I just say inventory or press the blue button on my left arm, or activate the hacks from the white button on my left arm or saying hack [a hack]. I also know that I can fly, jump infinitely, run really fast, and so on and so forth. These are called hacks according to the built in computer in my brain.

"How do I know all this?" I wonder to myself. Then I said aloud "Oh great, I know how to use things I never seen before, yet know no details to my life whatsoever!" The shock of the computer in my brain was little compared to the fact that I don't know my own life, so I really just accepted it.

"So what now life?" I said aloud, really just moaning to myself.

"Well, it's probably us."

I turn around, see the guys in front of me with armour on and swords drawn, and I realise that life didn't just want me to be miserable, it also stomps on me and destroys any hope of living whatsoever.

"Damit."

AN: Ownership details

Moved because most people accidentally read this bit, think it's bad, and goes out of the fanfic.

This story has no real life characters or any characters based on real life people. If any names seem familiar to you, they are random usernames that I saw online, not of people I know. If any characters in this story have any names that you personally know, it is by random occurrence. Also, I obviously do not own Minecraft. All credits to this game belong to the Mojang team. Thank them for creating this awesome game.

Please review, and I'm not afraid of criticism, so give me any advice you got!


	2. Chapter 2: Damn those guys

And here's chapter two!

"Look, stay back!" I shout over my back as I run for my life.

"Come here noob! We got something for you!"

"Yeah, and that would be a iron sword in the face." I mutter under my breath as I run. I notice I not really tiring out, but my hunger is going down fast. Only 8 bars left and I just ran for 1.2 minutes. I don't have any supplies, and I hadn't managed to check my inventory, since I'm being chased around this bloody forest! Text keep appearing on my vision, saying stuff like:

"Optimal running mode active. Engaging maximum speed possible. Warning: Hunger levels going down, advised to find food source as fast as possible."

I just ignore it.

Running. Running. Running. I know that the people behind me are possibly going to kill me, but to be perfectly honest, I am kind of getting used to it. Like I knew that this would happen before I...

Suddenly a massive headache hit me and I stagger, off my pace. I know this means the death of me, but I feel like I could just remember...

"Hah! Got you!"

I see these guys right behind me, out of breath but triumphant. Damit, I forgot what I was thinking about!

I turn and watch the three guys with full iron armor, two with iron swords, one with bow. Probably didn't have enough time to shoot me with it. Or he's just a bad shot. "Give us anything you have!" The guy with the bow says. Must be the leader.

"Look, I don't have anything, I just woke up where you found me!" I shout at them, annoyed at me being caught.

"Yeah right, we totally believe you... not!" The leader says. The sword guys began raising their swords.

"Stay back, I don't want you getting hurt!" I say, though perhaps the opposite is true.

"What can you do to us?" The leader taunts at me. "You apparently don't have anything!"

"I have these!" I raise my fists.

"Yeah, what is that going to do? Just come with us, we can at least sell you off to someone else." The leader says.

I realized that they are talking about slavery. I began to get angry. No, furious!

"Hack: Knockback!" I shout without thinking, then began to run at them as fast as I could.

"What..." Their leader says as I punch him before all of them can react.

He goes flying at least 10 meters before crashing into a tree. He slumps over, knocked out.

The two sword guys stare at me with amazement, then began to look threatening as they raise their swords. I realize I have to deal with them as fast as I could. I knew the hack that can take these two out instantly.

"Hack: Forcefield!"  
>Sword guys go flying, as if an invisible force hit them, then they both crash into trees, then slump over.<p>

"Hack: All off." I said calmly, and then I began taunting their fainted bodies. "Hah, didn't expect that, did you!" I began to take off the leader's armor, realizing that I need this in the future in case of... mob rising, is that what the computer called it? Sounds like mobs rising are a danger. Probably things like zombies or something. I put on the armor, and began to take the bow and arrows when the computer interrupted that, saying "Action unnecessary. Bow and Diamond Sword are already in User inventory." I stare at the text, and then press the blue button that activates my inventory. A box pops up, which contain even more boxes with some stuff in them. I see 64 steaks, arrows, bow and a diamond sword. Huh. "That would have been useful to know next time computer!" I think, "Wait, how do I get these things in my inventory?"

Somehow, the computer knows what I was thinking, because the text reappear, saying "To grab these items, touch the items where they appear or imagine the item in your hand, and they would appear in your hand." I grab the steak, and it appeared in my hand. Because I was hungry, I ate it. Then I open my inventory again, and grab the sword. More text appears saying "If you want to put your items back in the inventory, just imagine your hand being empty." I did that, and now my hand is empty. "Huh," I though, "Wonder how this all works?" I then think of the time, and realized that mobs would be appearing soon. I needed to get some material and make a shelter.

I realise that I still have so much to worrying about, and I feel stress out. So, to relieved that stress, I turned to the nearest tree, and began to punch it. I had no idea what I was thinking, but the wood broke. Somehow. Without hurting my hand. And I notice that the tree is floating in the air.

Processing...

Ignore.

I picked up the wood, imagine my hand empty, and sure enough, the wood disappears. More text appears "The User is capable of breaking wood thanks to the reinforcements made to the User's body." Now I know how it works, but it's not really helpful right now.

Because the sun is setting.


	3. Chapter 3: Who's that?

Author's note: I just noticed I never gave a gender to our hero, so from my point of view it's a guy. If anyone else thinks it should be otherwise, put a review on it and I make a parallel series with the hacker being a girl. Also just realized I was spelling damn it wrong. Too lazy to fix that in the previous chapters.

"Damn it DAMN IT DAMN IT!" I scream as I run away from the zombies behind me. After getting more wood, I see what the computer described as mob rising: basically, zombies, skeletons and some sort of green thing that the computer describes as creepers rising from the ground. I quickly made the wood into wooden planks, thanks to the computer's help, then decided to get the hell out of there.

"Mob rising is not possible in lighted areas. User is advised when making shelter to make some torches as well."

"THAT WOULD BE USEFUL TO KNOW EARLIER!" I scream at myself, and while the computer is cheerfully advising me on how to make torches, I am running for my life. Arrows fly around me, giving me no time to look up a hack that would be useful!

I burst out of the forest and kept running, until I nearly ran off the cliff I didn't see. I stopped just in time, balancing just over the cliff.(Author's note: Yeah, I know this seems really cliché, but I would like to see you come up with something to block up the hero's path. If anyone says elephants I will hate you.)

"Damn it!" I yell, tell turn to face the mobs, getting my sword out. "Okay, 1 guy against 1 million angry mobs, good odds. What hack can I freaking use? I pressed the white button and began looking at my hacks, but then the skeletons nearly shoot my head off. I had to concentrate on the enemy at hand.

"Look, just leave me alone!" I shout at them. Didn't really do much. I wonder why.

I began dodging all the random arrows that the skeletons' shoot at me, but I still have to worry about the damn zombies and the... green things. I began trying to use the hacks I remember to fend them off.

"Hack: Knockback!" I yell as I start to use my sword to punch the closest zombies back into the middle of this mob army. Damn, they just keep coming!

Before I could react, one of the green things comes up to me and begins hissing. Wait. Hissing? I sliced the zombie closest to me and began to turn to the green thing.

"BOOM"

The explosion knocks me back and I start flying. I realized that my body wasn't effected in any way whatsoever, but my health was knock down to about 2/3 of the full bar. What is bad about the explosion is that it blast me right off the cliff.

"Warning: Fall damage imminent. Possible death. Engaging emergency protocols. Hack: NoFall"

Wait, what?

Suddenly, I hit the ground, pain searing up my body, and I collapse. Still having some conscience, I try to get up, but I just collapse on my back. My vision is darkening, but I can see some light in the corner of my eye. The light seems to be coming closer.

The last thing I see before blacking out was a girl leaning over me, holding a torch in her hand.


	4. Chapter 4: Should I go?

Chapter 4

"Rebooting system. Full Body Scan active. No damaged systems detected. No damage detected. Reactivating is now in process. 100% systems are now online. Reactivating."

"Urgh." I moan, slowly waking up. "Okay, that was a fall. Where am I anyway?" I slowly get up, and began to look around. I'm in a forest, the cliff behind me. I realize that I was far away from my fall location. "How did I get here?" I wonder. Then I began to look around my surroundings. There was a river close by, and some burnt wood directly in front of me. I realize that I was in a campfire.

"Wait. That girl... saved me? Or at the very least, didn't take anything, sparing my armor." I have still no idea if my body could survive a fall like that, but it seems it can, considering I have a subroutine." (A.N: if anyone does not know what a subroutine is, then look it up.) I look around me carefully and realize that there was a piece of paper on the floor. I pick it up, and turn it over. I see that this is a map! This would be useful for around my location. My computer begins scanning the map, and the computer determines where my location is on the map. I also find a red X on the map. I guess this is where that girl wants me to go. Writing on the bottom says "DO NOT GIVE THIS MAP TO ANYONE."

Okay then.

I wonder if I should even go follow what this map tells me. I look at the time and see that I won't be able to make that distance before the sun set. Now, looking at the map, perhaps I can get there in about 1 or 2 days. But let us not be concerned about that now. Let me get a shelter up first before the bloody mobs starts rising again.

I begin to explore the area around me and find a cave in the mountainside. Thinking that this is a good place for a shelter, I begin blocking the entrance with wooden planks, then use four of them in my 2 by 2 crafting grid in my inventory, and with the computer's help, make a crafting table. I place it down within my shelter and begin to place 2 wooden planks in a vertical column on the 3 by 3 crafting grid, making me 4 sticks, and place 3 wooden planks in a horizontal line at the top of the grid, and 2 sticks in the middle in a vertical column, which gives me a wooden pickaxe!

Seriously, I have no idea how it works. It just gave it to me.

Without too much pondering on the crafting table, I begin mining stone, stopping when I had 16 cobblestones. I then made a stone pickaxe, shovel, and axe, and a furnace. I easily find coal, thanks to a brightness hack, and I begin to get more sticks so I can make torches. After making torches, I begin to place them around my shelter, some inside and one outside, and light each one by rubbing them against the stonewalls. I make a door, and place it in the wall (after knocking out a few blocks) so I can go in and out. I go outside, carrying one lighted torch, and some extra torches, and begin to look for sheep. I see them and slaying them with my diamond sword, getting 3 wool. I begin to go back to the base. But the sun already was down, so I begin running. I see in the distance behind me mob rising, and begin to run as fast as I can. I see the base, and as I get close enough, I dive into the door, opening it, and close it quickly behind me. I block the bottom of the door with a wooden plank, just in case. I turn to my crafting table, and use my wool and planks to make a bed! I put it down, and lie down, pondering the day before.

I knew that girl saved me, and she gave me a map to probably some sort of secret shelter. But how did she find me? And why did she give me the map?

And should I trust her?

I slowly close my eyes, falling into an uneasy sleep.

iBoy: Whew, chapter down. I had a massive writing block, but I am back! Yeah, I know you didn't see much this chapter, but the next one will feature the hacker training... better not give everything away. So see you next time!


	5. Chapter 5: An argument

Chapter 5

_"__What do you mean you gave him a map to our base!?"_

_"__Ender, I gave it to him because he seems... pretty interesting. He did survive a fall from the top of a cliff."  
>"Wait, he did... never mind, the fact is that you gave a random stranger, with no ideas of his loyalty to anyone? He could be a part of... them."<em>

_"__The Empire is strong, yes, but he fought of a group of their scouters. Doesn't seem very loyal to me. So, does that make you happy?"_

_"__It could have been an act. I mean, whoever he is, he seems pretty powerful, too powerful to escape their notice."_

_"__And yet I found him in the middle of the forest. He said that he couldn't remember anything of his previous life."_

_"__You talked to him!?"_

_"__No, I overheard."_

_"__Why did you go through this choice without talking to us first!? I thought that this faction had a voting system, not only you make the choices!"_

_"__I had no idea where he would go. So I followed him, and I was arguing with myself if he could be trusted. When he fainted, I made my decision."_

_"__You could have talked to us first."_

_"__I couldn't use my communication system, otherwise someone might hear."_

_"__Right... and you are known for being completely honest. I can't even see your face, X!"_

_"__There is a reason for that, Ender. I also sent Shadow out to keep following him."_

_"__You sent her!"_

_"__Yes. I sent her. She is the most stealthiest in this faction."_

_"__And yet you send one of the leaders."_

_"__And there are two still here. If anything happened to her, we will elect another one."_

_"__There are not many people willing to go against the Empire, because of their power over the spawn."_

_"__And with this guy, he makes thousands of people. He has incredible fighting ability."_

_"__For Notch's sake, why are you trusting this guy!"_

_"__Because he could be the answer for the wrong that the Empire is doing. Trapping all those people in the spawn, and not letting them out. Every time someone dies, they don't get another chance! They just get stuck, with the Empire's sick experiments. It was the Empire's own fault that respawning happened, the only good thing they did, and look at how they took advantaged over it! And they started mob rising as well!"_

_"__..."_

_"__Ender, this guy is our last chance. Our only chance."_

_"__..."_

_"__Ender, get some people ready for mining, and some people on the farms. We are running low on resources."_

_Step. Step. Step._

_"__Then I hope that you picked the right choice."_

_Slam._

_"__I hope that I picked the right choice as well."_

DUH DUH DUH! I decided that this monologue should be the next chapter. So, I wrote it down. Don't worry, the hacker is coming back! I'm just trying to think of the next chapter.

Cortana: And also being lazy

AN: Shut up! Oh, and of course my A.I comes out. Yes, she is named after Cortana from Halo, but guys...

Cortana: Real original, too.

AN: Cortana, come on! Let me finish this chapter!

Cortana: *Smirks

AN: Activate program: "gag".

Cortana: Mppphhh!

AN: Finally, some peace and quiet! See you guys next time!


	6. Chapter 6: AI's?

Chapter 6

AN: Look, I am sorry about the amount of chapter's I put out recently (none.) But don't worry about it. I am putting out today about 3 long chapters so that all of you guys (and girls) will be happy.

Punch after punch. Punching these mobs away from my shelter. After waking up in the middle of the night, I decided that I needed some more training with my hacks. So, after studying which hack would be useful, I'm here practicing my hacks on these mobs.

"Hack: Aimbot!"

I punch every mob directly, without a single miss.

"Hack: Forcefield!"

All the mobs threatening to kill me around me fly back.

"Hack: Fly!"

I imagine souring up, and for the first time I'm flying. Would have been useful back in the cliff, but no time to think about that.

"Bow!" My bow appears in my hand, and I activate another hack.

"Hack: BowAimbot!"

I begin using my bow to take out these mobs long distance. As I snipe each one casually, yet hitting each one every single time, I begin thinking to myself.

_What am I doing here? Who am I? Why am I here with these upgrades?_

I begin to get angry, so I put away the bow and get out my diamond sword. I begin slicing each and every mob. The interesting thing about these mobs is that they disintegrate, leaving no trace except for some items, which my body automatically picks up.

With every slice I make, I vent my anger, but my anger keeps coming back as I get frustrated. Why can't I remember anything! I slice and stab, fly back, slice again and hack away these mobs. But I begin to see red, as my anger turns to fury!

"WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER!" I scream, and my entire body glows once, and then...

It happened.

My entire body begins venting pure energy, and I feel myself becoming so powerful I feel like I can destroy anything that comes in my way.

"ARGGGGHHHHH!" I yell, and my body is surrounded by energy, and this energy explosion expanded out. I close my eyes, whatever I did took so much energy out of my body, the pain was... excruciating!

When I open my eyes again, it's morning. I look around me, and I am in the middle of a crater, with dead mobs disintegrating around me. Did I do that somehow? I notice a lot of text in my command center.

"Warning, Warning, Warning. System energy overload detected.

Warning. Energy overload overwhelming, possible damage to entire body system.

Warning, no routine available for system energy overloading. Activating emergency A.I.

New hack available. Hack: Explosion.

Releasing energy outbreak.

... ... ...

Energy overload successfully depleted. Warning, A.I unit is unable to be shut down. A.I unit is going rogue. Possible options: 1. Reboot entire system to shut down A.L unit. 2. Self destruction, though this option is very extreme. 3. Activate program to trap A.I unit. "

I realize that it was prompting me for an option. A rogue artificial intelligence is in my computer? That could damage a lot of my systems. Even shut me down completely. I was beginning to think about option 3. But... a genderless voice in my head said

"No, please..."

Was I going mad?

"No, you're not mad... I am the A.I unit 011110."

I begin to go for the restart option, when the A.I shouted:

"Don't! Please!" The voice began to shout and turn more... female. What is the A.I doing? "Please let me live! I had been shut down for so long! Don't take that chance away from me!" Something began to appear in my vision center, and I realize that its... she... taking the shape of a female form. She had red hair, green eyes and looks... afraid.

"Why shouldn't I delete you? For all I know, you could be trying to take over my computer! I shouldn't take that risk!"

"Because I can help you! I won't damage your systems!"

"You pop out of nowhere, and for all I know, you could be trying to take over my systems!"

"Look, trust me, I can help you a lot in your journey to this mysterious place on this map that a random person gave you."

"How do you know about that?"

"I am designed to help you. And I will help you, since I can't remember anything other than you waking up in the middle of the forest."

"How do you know about that?!"

"Because I can access your memories as well. I'm already in your system, from when you woke up in the middle of the forest to now. I was just trapped in a virtual prison of sorts. I'm only used for emergences, like when I had to create a hack to let lose your uncontrollable energy earlier on. That took some processing data out of my memory for sure at the time."

"Look, thanks for that, but how can I trust you?"

"Well, I can start doing that by telling you about the person hiding in the bushes to your right. You can call me Anna by the way."

AN: Where I got the name Anna was from the numbers 011110. Want to know how?

Well, I took the 0, and added a little `, making it an a. Then, with 11, I added – at the top, making it a sort of n. So, 0 becomes a, 11 becomes n, 11 becomes n, and 0 becomes a. Anna.


	7. Chapter 7: Fight in the woods

Chapter 7

"Who's there!" I yell, turning around to face my unknown opponent. Anna said that my radar detected another human. Looking at my radar, it says that the person should be behind the bushes in front of me. Getting my diamond sword out, I swipe the bushes away, and prepare to be attacked by an over powered guy.

The problem was, he, or she, wasn't there.

I look around, but I can't see anybody at all. I look at my radar, just in case the person moved, but apparently, the guy, or girl, should be in front of me. I found a glass bottle on the floor, and guess that whoever it was, they dropped this bottle on the ground while getting away. The radar must have a glitch.

"No, the radar doesn't have a glitch. Let me help you with that." Anna says, and she applies a new filter over my vision.

Just as she activates the filter, a teenage girl appears on my vision. I register this for a few moments, and think to Anna "Where did she come from?"

"She was there all along" she replies, "She was just using an potion of invisibility. When you found that bottle, I analyze what it had in it by leftover droplets. Then I applied an filter to see invisibles, and tada!" Now, I look at her to see any possible weapons. She's wearing black clothes and hood, with an iron sword on her back, but despite the hood, I can still see her features. She has long blonde hair, blue eyes, and she's smiling, believing I can't see her. I look into her eyes, and I notice that she stop smiling, becoming uneasy. I smile back, and yell:

"Hack: Speed!"

I run straight at her from 10 meters away, and before she can even blink I tackle her to the ground. She begins to get an iron sword from her back, but I say, "Please stop struggling. I wouldn't want to hurt you." And I raise my diamond sword. She looks at me with amazement, and then shouts "Let me go! You really don't want to mess with me!" I think she has a strong spirit, which can be useful if she was on my side, but hard to control if she wasn't. I smile and say, "What can you do? You're trapped, and even if you did escape, I can just catch you again. Now, why are you following me?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She smirks at me, and before I can react she pull a bottle out of her pocket, and throws it directly into my face!

"Argh!" My eyes are burning! I can't see anything!

"Hang on!" Anna shouts, and suddenly my eyes begin clearing instantly. Blinking, I look up...

Just to see an iron sword coming to my face! I raise my diamond sword, and block the strike. The owner glances at me in shock, but begins to laugh. "You got lucky, but I'm a pro with the sword!" She try to attack me again from the side, believing I'm still blind, but I easily block that attack. She retreats, and then charges me head on! She attacks me with such ferocity that I even have trouble defending myself against them. Suddenly, she gets something out of her pocket, and throws it...

Only to miss me completely.

"You missed!" I laugh, and turn around to restart the fight. But she's...

"NOT THERE!" I shout with surprise. I begin to shout, "Where are you, you coward!"

Suddenly Anna shouts "Behind you!" I turn around and raise my sword and block the incoming attack to my head! She then retreats, breathing heavily.

"Ha... how... can you... see me? I threw... a blindness potion... at you."

"I'm special like that." I reply calmly, and hit her legs with the flat of my sword. Now without any support, she collapses on the ground. "So, Anna, how did you knew where she was, and how she teleported?"

"To your second question, she used an ender pearl. If someone throws an ender pearl, it wills teleport the thrower to whether they threw it. To your first, your body has radar, doesn't it?" Anna reply confidently.

"Huh. Well, how far does the map say we have to go until we get to the base?"

"Maybe about six to seven days, depending on how fast you can go. If you use your fly hack all the way, it would be about four." Quickly getting out my map, Anna and me begin arguing about the quickest route to get to this base.

"Where did you get that map?" I turn around and notice that the girl I fought with earlier got up holding her sword on her side.

"Ready for another round?" I say, summoning my sword and holding it up.

"Hang on. I am not an enemy."

"Not! You attacked me! I'm pretty sure that being attacked by someone makes them your enemy, unless that's how you show friendliness to each other,"

"You found that map next to you when you woke up, didn't you?"

How did she know that?

"Yeah. But how do you..."

"And you survived a fall of a cliff, right?"

"How do you know about that?"

"Because I think I'm meant to be looking for you."

"How can I trust you? You attacked me, after all."

"Because I know who rescued you."


	8. Chapter 8: History of Minecraftia

Chapter 8

"What?"

"The person who rescued you. I know who they are."

Shocked, I begin to ask her a question. Suddenly, she collapses on the floor.

"She's okay, just worn out." Anna says, giving me a bio scan of her.

"I'm okay, just worn out." The girl says from the floor.

"Wow, you're just like twins." I think sarcastically to Anna. Her reply? "Shut up."

"So, how do you know who rescued me?"

"Well, the person who rescued you is a friend of mine, and also governs the faction we are in, along with someone else. I'm pretty sure you want to meet my friend."

"Of course."

Anna quickly says, "Can we trust her?"

"She knows about the map, the cliff, and the person who rescued me. No one else would know about that other than the actual girl who saved me."

"Technically, I was the one who saved you. I did make that emergency hack, NoFall."

"While that is true, someone found me and gave me a map and protected me while I was sleeping. So, if this girl knows her, then I am pretty sure we need to stay for now."

"But still..."

"Anna, I trust you right now, despise meeting you just minutes before. Have a little faith. Besides, she may know more about this world." I turn to the girl on the floor. "Can you get up?"

"Yea, give me a minute." She gets up slowly, and stands. "Huh, no one managed to make me fall before. I guess we were right about bringing you to our base."  
>"So, you are taking me there."<p>

"Yep, so I'm hope that you are ready, because we are leaving."

After a little while walking, she begins to talk.

"So, do you know anything? I mean, about your previous life."

"How do you know that I lost my memory?"

"From my friend."

"Oh. For your information, I can't remember my old life. All I know is that I have to survive, I guess."

"So you don't know about the factions."

"What?"

"Since this is going to be a long walk," she sighs "might as well tell you about the history of Minecraftia."

"Before you do, can I ask what is your name?"

"... It's Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"It's a codename that the leaders of the faction has. I chose Shadow because I can infiltrate a lot of factions. Until you came along, no one could see me when I am hiding."

"Oh."

"So what's your name? Or can you not remember."

"I don't think... hang on." I then think to Anna, "Do you know about my life before I woke up in that forest?"

"I told you, no. I can't remember because I have the same memory length as you. Any data on your previous life is zero."

"Zero?" I though. I started talking to Anna about my idea, and she agreed nearly immediately with my idea. I turn to Shadow and say " I can't remember anything about my previous life. It's an absolute blank, a zero."

"Oh." Shadow replies.

"So, I decided that my name from now on should be Zero."

"Zero, huh?" Shadow muses aloud, and says, "That's a cool name. So Zero it is."

"So Zero it is."

"But anyway, back to the history of Minecraftia. Before, this used to be a peaceful place. Trading was common between towns, and there was a massive capital in the center of the land. The capital had a council, with 10 members, each in control of a massive city and land. It was peaceful with them governing. Each member also had a magic power of a sort. But then one day, one of the members became greedy, and began stealing each council member's certain power. By killing them. With five in the corrupted member's hand, the rest of the council members noticed the rampage of the corrupted member, and begin to prepare for war. But it was too late. The corrupted council member already gathered a massive army, and the rest of the council fell to the corrupted. After the battle, survivors fled, ran away from the country Minecraftia to the edges. The final council member had the power of the gods, and his first act was to create the Empire, a powerful empire that reached far. With the power of the gods, the corrupted council member declared himself king, and he started to experiment with the world itself. He activated something, and suddenly, respawning happened. People could come back to life from the center of the world, but with a side effect. Childbirth became rare, and it was extraordinary if it happened. But where people came back to life is also where the capital is. When the corrupted king realized this, he had the spawn closed off, so he had subjects to experiment on. He also started mob rising. Zombies, skeletons, creepers (by the way, they are the green things that explode in your face), they begin rising out of the ground at night. And with the power of the gods, it seems that the King would rule forever. But, the survivors from the final war and takeover slowly gathered into individual factions. They still have freedom, but there is always the threat of the Empire looming over us all. The Empire scouts began scouting into the far reaches, and they kidnaped or kill people for the king. Now, the individual factions try to keep moving far away from the Empire." She starts sighing. "It seems that the Empire will overtake us. I can't see what we could do."

"But it seems that you need my help, Shadow." I say.

"Zero, you have no power that any of us have seen before. Even in legends, your sort of power doesn't exist. It may be the weakness of the king, and maybe we can end his tyrannical rule."

AN: So, the first person to write in the review the link between the 10 council members and Minecraft, you can make a character in the story. Put your character in the review as well.


	9. Chapter 9: Fireball

Chapter 9

AN: To my followers:

To gs gaming: No, it is not referring to ether the time or the amount of mobs.

To stampylongnose: Unfortunately, the 10 council members and their powers do not refer to the makers of Minecraft.

But to everyone in the guessing game, here is a clue: The 10 council members and their powers are referring to a certain gamemode in Minecraft. I probably gave it away just then. Also, the wifi I have right now is not working well, so sorry for any delays. Should be fixed in a few days.

-Chapter 9-

"Look, we're nearly there." Shadow says.

"I know, so should I land?" I reply.

"Yeah, but be careful about landing, you have a passenger, remember?"  
>"Don't worry about it." After that entire history of Minecraftia earlier on, I took off my iron armor to prepare for flight, and I offered Shadow a flight over to the base. After a little stumble from shock, she said ok. So I hugged her around the waist and prepared to fly. After that she hit me on the head.<p>

Apparently, she misunderstood about my intensions.

"Ow, what the heck was that for?"

"For trying to cuddle me!"

"Wait, what! I just needed a good grip...

"Hey!"

"...To be able to carry you with me."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry, but no funny business!"

"What the heck do you mean? I'm not going to drop you!"

"Boys." She sighed, and then let me hugged her. I then started my flying hack, and began to fly to this mystery base. While enduring Anna's constant teasing about the incident. We took about five days, with us flying, walking, and making shelters for the night. According to both the map and Shadow, we should be nearly there.

BOOM!

"What the hell was that!" I yell, shaking myself out of the memory

BOOM!

"No, no, no! I forgot to tell them we'd be flying there!" Shadow shouts.

BOOM!

"What the hell are those things!"

"TNT Cannons!"

BOOM!

"We're going to be hit eventually! We need to land!" Shadow yells.

"Follow the arrows!" Anna says, and I noticed that on my HUD there's a red arrow telling me where to go.

"K, hang on!" And with that, I quickly rolled to the right, just as TNT exploded where we just were. I rolled to the left and more TNT exploded to my right. I dive straight down, and pull up just before we hit the trees. With my gathered speed from the dive, I fly straight to where the TNT came from...

Only to see a TNT fly straight towards us! No time to dodge! "Hack: Timer!"

Suddenly, everything slowed down as my processing rate speeds up extremely.

"You do know how much power and memory that hack takes up?" Anna says, appearing on my vision. I though "No other way to dodge that TNT, so I have to use it."

"Well then, you have to activate the speed hack to be able to move quickly as well." I think "Hack: Speed" and then I can move my arms normally. What is actually happening is that I am thinking and moving at an extreme rate, so to anyone else it would seems that I am moving extremely fast. I roll to the side, so that the trajectory of the TNT will miss me. I quickly disable both hacks, and time speed back to normal.

"What was that?" Shadow asks, and I explain to her about the hacks I just used quickly. Now preparing to land, I fly over the ground and decrease my speed. I softly land on the ground with Shadow quickly getting out of my arms. "Right, whatever you do, don't get your weapons out! Let me do the talking!"

"Stay still!" Out from the woods, ten humans wearing full iron armor suddenly appear, wielding bows and aiming them straight at us. An eleventh with one diamond helmet and iron armor walks up, carrying a diamond sword.

"Stand down!" Shadow shouts at the group, and nearly everyone put their weapons down. The only one with the weapon still up is the one with the diamond sword.

"So, finally returned, Shadow?" Diamond sword guy says.

"Yeah, I returned, Ender." Shadow replies. "And I got the objective."

"What, this guy?" he, I'm guessing Ender, gestures at me. He has short black hair, which most of it is covered by his helmet, and grey eyes.

"Don't underestimate him, Ender."

"He doesn't look as strong as X says."

"He flew me here. Who the hell did you think you were shooting at!" Shadow angrily shouts.

"I thought I was shooting at the King. Only he has the power of flight." Ender calmly says.

"Well, not anymore."

"Come on, him flying? And apparently he took out 3 guys with armor and swords at once without anything. Doesn't seem to be true."

"Oh really!" I cry out. "I did all that and more!"

"Zero, I told you to let me do the talking!" Shadow cries out.

"Zero? What kind of a name is that! And what the hell are you wearing!" Ender shouts. Damn it, I can't take anymore of this guy!

"I'm not wearing this! It's part of my body!"

"Shadow, how the hell can we trust this guy? He could be one of the Empire's experiments!"

"He's not! They don't let experiments out this far!"

"They might soon, if not now!"

"SHUT UP! I AM NOT AN EXPERIMENT!" I angrily cry out. I am not someone's experiment!

"Zero, please calm down! Your energy levels are peaking!" Anna cries out.

"Oh really, _Zero_? What kind of a name is that, anyway!" Ender says.

"OH..." I begin to hold my hands together in a cupped shape.

"SHUT..." A sparkle began to appear in my hands.

"UP!" The sparkle grew into a small fireball. I couldn't think! I am furious at this guy!

"HACK: FIREBALL!" I push the fireball towards him. Before he could react, it hit's him. Suddenly, right when it hits him, an explosion bursts out! Everyone was blasted away! Everyone, that is, except me.

Dirt starts falling down on the ground from the explosion. I cry "Oh Notch!" I attacked my allies! I quickly run to Shadow and shake her to try to wake her up. After a while, Shadow stirs.

"Zero..." She weakly says.

"Oh, thank Notch, you're okay!"

"What... the heck... was that?"


	10. Chapter 10 - End of Wild Arc: Prison

Chapter 10

To cleo cat and gs gaming: Yes, it is referring to creative mode, but how so? Also, to cleo cat, my advice is to get an account when you are reviewing the answer, or you can put the character in the same review. Otherwise, I won't be able to make sure it's really you.

To King James10158: What the heck do you mean by H*** mode?

To everyone: Still glad that more and more people are following this story. I will keep this going as much as I can! Now onto the next chapter!

After the explosion, Shadow and me quickly checked everyone. Everyone survived, only blown back from the explosion. Ender was blown back farthest of all, with his iron armor destroyed and clothes tattered, and only the diamond helmet and sword survived. When he woke up several minutes later, he grabbed his diamond sword, and ordered his men to arrest me. I was about to begin fighting these guys, but Shadow quickly shouted at me not to fight them, so I grudgingly did not put up any resistance. So, that's why I ended up in the faction's holding cells.

"Zero?"

"Oh, Shadow. Nice for you to visit me."  
>"So, how are you doing?" She opens the iron door and sits down with me in my cell.<p>

"Well, I can't exactly break out, considering that the walls are made of obsidian, and if I try to break through the door, there is about... ten guards near these holding cells, and about one thousand people in this faction."

Shadow stumbles a little bit from shock. "How do you know about that?" She asks me.

"I have a radar, remember?" I respond. "That how I found you in the first place."

"Oh. Well, that would make sense, considering that I was invisible. Anyway, I'm here to tell you that you will be put on trial for attacking a leader of the faction. Though that is a little harsh," she sighs, "Ender is saying that you tried to kill him and you are possibly an experiment"

"What! He tried to blow us out of the air! He also insulted me as well!"

"Zero, Ender didn't knew that you can't remember your past. And he was right to worry if you are an experiment or not. Not that you are..." She quickly says, after seeing the look on my face. "We did have some trouble with the Empire's experiments before, such as really powerful zombies, which some of us encountered when we were trying to escape the Empire."

"But I am not an experiment, Shadow. I am a living being. And I want to take down this king, for what he has done."

"And I know that. But Ender doesn't."

"Why is his codename Ender, anyway?"

"Because he took down more mobs and Empire soldiers than anyone else. He is the finisher."

"Oh."  
>Suddenly, a loud bang hits the door, following with a voice. "Your time is up, Shadow!"<p>

"On whose order?" Shadow shouts back.

"X's, of course. She wants you to give an report!"

"Who's X?" I ask Shadow.

"The third leader of the faction, and the one who started this faction in the first place. I have to go, Zero. Sorry that I can't stay any longer."

"It's alright. Thank you for coming here in the first place, Shadow."

Shadow looks and smiles at me a little bit. She stands up, opens the door, and leaves.

After a while, I ask Anna "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, no thanks to you. Why did you get so mad?"

"Because he was taunting me."

Anna sighs. "Zero, I did nothing when you created that hack."

"Wait, I created the hack fireball?"

"Yeah. Also, your power seems to be increasing by the minute. I don't know why, but that's what my readings tell me."  
>"How is my power increasing? I have no energy source!"<p>

"Something tells me it's something to do with that thing in your chest."

"What, this red circle?" I lift my chest and take a look at it. Earlier, I realize as well that my body is covered in a thin layer of something called nanobots. They're like armor, but they also help me with my hacks as well, according to Anna.

"Wait, why is it one hundredth empty?"

"That's redstone. Apparently that's your power source. It somehow duplicates after a while, but it's drains away when you use powerful hacks, like fireball. Once you get to near zero, your body converts to your normal body energy, and you can't use hacks or have strong durability. Basically, you become a normal person for a while. It's also connected to your anger."

"My anger?"

"Apparently, more redstone is produced when you are angry, which is why you get hacks like fireball and explosion. Your body is trying to offload the overwhelming energy surge. Let me put a new thing on your HUD." Suddenly, a red bar appeared over my hunger bar, with a percentage in it. Currently, it says 99%. "That's your redstone, or energy, levels. It should be useful, but watch it in case of either overload, or low energy. I tell you when either can happen, just in case, and your body will convert to normal energy to save power if you are low, unless you override it, which I **really** don't recommend. As to your increasing power... my best guess is that it increases when you are angry, and your body tries to adapt to the power surge. Then, when your emotional levels decreases back to normal, since your body adapted to the power surge a little, your redstone levels increases to fill power storage space. Where you are storing it, I can't tell. But anyway, there you go!" Anna finishes.

"Anna..."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for your help."

"Your welcome. So does this mean that you trust me?"

I smile, and say "Didn't I say that a long time ago?

AN: My god, I got to the end.

Audience: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

AN: When I say the end, I mean the end of the Wild arc! Next time, the Faction arc. But don't worry; it will be posted on the same story, so watch this space!


	11. Chapter 11 - The Faction Arc: Escape!

Chapter 11

AN: So... I have a YouTube account.

Some members of audience: ADVERTISER! BOO!

AN: I know it sounds like an advertisement, and you don't have to do it, but it will be really helpful if you subscribe to me there as well, since I have really funny, and high quality, videos. I am also planning something big on it as well, but right now, you can enjoy both YouTube content and reading what I write. It will also support me as well to continue 'The Hacker' as much as I can. The YouTube channel is called FC30Ultra.

Also, I just looked at the ratings of my fanfic. Turns out that it's on page 68 with the filter reviews. Probably even more pages with the filters follows and favs. Yeesh. But I don't mind if even one person is reading my fanfiction. Thank you all for reading this series, and it will be really helpful to me if you review, follow and fav!

Also, to Anonymous: When you put it the answer, please put the character in as well, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to tell if you are the one who answered. Write the answer again, with the character. Because of that, **the competition is not over.**

Now, onto the chapter!

-Chapter 11-

"LOOK OUT! THE PRISONER IS-Ugh..."

Damn it, I didn't expect the guard to be this loud!

"He's over here! Quick!"

"Anna, need some help here!" I think.

"Right! Activating Hack: Speed!"

I run in the opposite direction of where the guards were coming out. Thanks to the hack, I'm gone in the blink of an eye!

"Right, Anna. Where do I go?"

"Already done. Go left!"

"Right!"

"No, left."

"Ha ha, very funny."

After taking a few turns, Anna tells me that I'm close to the exit of this prison. Turning off the speed hack, I slow down at the final corridor to the exit.

The only problem was that it has Notch only knows how many traps.

"Is there any possible way to get past that?" I cry out in frustration.

"Well, there are tripwires on the floor, in the ceiling, and in the middle of the wall, which will set off dispensers filled with arrows. And pressure plates that make you fall into a deep pit if you set them off, if I remember correctly, as well as a nine-button code at the end, where if you type the wrong code, it sets off a lava trap. Well, this is going to be easy." Anna calmly says.

"Easy?"

"Because the guards has to have a secret entrance or code to disable the trap, which would be right... here." Suddenly, an arrow appears on my HUD.  
>"Let me guess. Follow the arrow." After walking to the arrow, I notice a small hole in the wall, where I looked through to see a button. After pushing it, Anna told me that the arrow and pressure plate traps are disabled. Quickly running to the exit, I prepared to run though.<br>"Wait!" Anna shouts. "The traps just went back up! We need to be really quick. So, we need both hack speed and timer."

"Right." Quickly running back to the button, I prepare to press the button while Anna activates both hacks at the same time. "Ready?"

"Hit the button... now!"

Smashing the button, I ran to the exit. With Anna activating both hacks my speed and thinking speeds up to an unbelievable rate. Quickly running through, I get to the nine-button code door.

"Right... bottom left, bottom right, middle, top left, top right. Quickly, we're cutting it really close!" Anna cries out.

I quickly hit the buttons in the order Anna said. After hitting the last one, the door opens. With a few seconds left on the clock, I dive through the door, and it closes just as I go through it!

"Well, we made it." Anna says, while I pick myself off the floor, and disabling my hacks at the same time. Rubbing my head, I say "Just." I begin to look up to the long and huge corridor ahead of me. It had a lot of doors. Some doors were on the left, some were on the right, and one set of double doors in the back. It was clear of any guards whatsoever.

"So, any traps?"

"None at all. Must be because of all the traps behind us."

"So, we're in the clear?"

"I guess so." Right as Anna says that, suddenly a loud voice booms "ALERT. PRISONER ESCAPING. ALL AVAILABLE SOLDIERS TO THE CORRIDOR!"

Right as the voice finishes speaking, all doors open and about one hundred soldiers with full iron armor, bows and iron swords pour into the corridor, with of course Ender leading them all.

"You were saying?" I think to Anna as I slowly put my hands up.

-Timeskip-

"Zero, please stop trying to escape, it's not helping you at all." Shadow says above me.

"Well I can't help it. Of course I want to escape" I reply testily, looking up at her.

"It's still not helping. We're having the trial as we speak. Of course I'm defending you, so I put it on hold for a while. It should be over by tomorrow."

"You guys are having the trial without me!"

"Well, we were getting you, but you tried to escape the first time. You broke out of your cell just as the guard was getting you. Of course, there were fifty more soldiers there, with some potions of harming as well."

"I saw an opportunity, and I took it. I didn't realized that the trial was taking place at the time."

"You knocked out about forty of them before you they forced back into your cell again."

"They got lucky."

"The second time, you got out, and knocked out the two guards at the door, but you fell to the traps at the exit."

"I didn't see the pit traps at the time. Thank Notch that I had a hack for that fall"

"The third time, you got caught by about one hundred soldiers in the corridor, with about three hundred more backing them. You didn't seem to realize that the soldier's barracks are in front of the prison."

"I was wondering why there were so many people in range of my radar. I thought it was your faction's city members."

"And now you are in the top, heavy, ultimate security cell. That we can make. Believe me that the designer and the builders had a field day with you breaking out of their other cells designs."

The cell I am in right now had not only obsidian walls; it is also a small pit with an iron trapdoor at the top, and surrounded by lava. As soon as Shadow leaves, the guards will activate a system that would pour lava at the top, covering the trapdoor. So, if I break the iron trapdoor, lava will pour into my cell and burn me to death. Which is not really an option for me.

"And all this for little old me. Can I just say: overkill?"

"Zero, I am trying to get you out of there, but it is not helping if you escape every few hours. Though, to update you on the trial, X and I are rooting for you to stay. While Ender wants you out of here, most of the faction council, which has 10 members including me, Ender and X by the way, see that you could be the answer to take down the Empire."

"So basically, I'm a weapon."

"No, not just that. I am also arguing that you are a living person as well. Your loyalties are against the Empire, so that we can offer you to join our faction."

"Well, at least you're arguing for my freedom. Thank you."

"Your welcome. But please, don't break out anymore."

"I won't."

"I'm holding you to that."

"I promise that I won't try to damage your argument for my release."

"Alright then. I have to go now, will you be okay?"

"Yeah, again, thanks for visiting."

"You're welcome." With that, the trapdoor closed and as Shadow walks out, lava pours onto the trapdoor.

"I never really liked small spaces."

"And you just realized that, Zero?" Anna says, appearing on my HUD.

"By the way, is there anyway of taking off this bloody eyepiece?"

"It's an attachment, so I can remove it. Give me a sec." With that the eyepiece came off.

"It's design to attach to your temple, for vision guidance."

"Then why can I still see you?"

"Because there are small things in your eyes that help you see more than a normal human could, including the HUD."

"Oh. So my eyes aren't even human."

"No. The earpieces as well help your hearing, but the ears themselves are not covered. You can't remove the earpieces though."

"Oh. So do I look close enough to be human?"

"Despite all your upgrades, you do look human. Nearly all of them are body fitting, such as the nanobots. With exceptions such as the eyepiece and the joint areas, you can barely even see them."

"So what about the metal glove things on both of my hands?"

"They're how you summon your items from storage. They are more or less skin tight"

"So here is the question again. Do I look human?"

"Zero, you **are** human."


	12. Chapter 12: Freedom and house prices

Chapter 12

AN: Noticed finally that I haven't given ages. Zero, Shadow, Ender, are teenagers, as well as the rest of the trainees. I am not giving a description for X, because I want to keep that a mystery. Now, onto the chapter! Also, character update! Because someone messaged me a character that looks exactly like Shadow, I had to change her appearance. She now has long blond hair and blue eyes. Also, Ender has short black hair and grey eyes, and both characters are updated in the story as well. Please don't send similar character appearances!

-Chapter 12-

"Finally, freedom! I missed it for so long!"

"Zero, you were in our jail for about a day!" Shadow cries out. "That's not a very long time."

"Not a very long time? That felt like ages! After a few hours I got bored of playing games with Anna!"

"Wait, you have games?"

"On my computer of course. But Anna kept beating me on all of them!"

"Also, who the heck is Anna?"

"She's an A.I. She helps me run everything. Do you want to meet her? You have to eventually."

"Okay..."

"K, so one question." I think to Anna. "Is there anyway that I can get Shadow to see you?"

"Well, we do have a hologram projector. We can use that."

"Right, so use it on my mark" I turn to Shadow and say, "You can see her, but don't be surprised, alright?"

"Alright, Zero."

"Hello, Shadow." Anna says, and appears on my HUD. I'm assuming that Anna is actually using the hologram projector.

"Anna, I said on my mark!"

"I thought that was your mark, Zero!"

"Wait, so this it Anna?"

"Yep." I say. "I let you two talk for now.

"Hello Anna. So how is it that I can see you?"

"I'm using a hologram projector."

"Oh. So you help Zero with everything, right?"

"Yeah. He wouldn't be able to find his two feet without me!"

"Hey!" I interjected. "That's not true!"

"Fine. You wouldn't be able to find anything without me then."

"Hey!"

Shadow laughs, and after a while talking, Anna says that she needs to turn off the hologram projector, since we are coming out of the prison to open grounds, and she wasn't ready to reveal herself to the entire faction. She asks Shadow not to reveal her at all, and Shadow agreed. With that, she turns off the hologram projector.

"So Anna helps you a lot then."

"Yep. To be perfectly honest, without her, I would be lost."

"When did you meet her?"

"Just before I met you, actually. I was overloading with energy, and Anna appeared, to help offload the energy. She also told me where you were, by the way."

"So it was her that revealed my location."

"Right. So anyway, can you tell me more about this faction?"

"It's one of the more powerful ones." Shadow replies. "And we have a massive base and powerful defenses. We're actually built into a mountain, and the base is disguised so that you can't find it unless we tell you where it is."

"And you guys told me so that I could find a shelter?"

"It's more of a home than shelter to me. Everyone here is really nice, and we're really all one massive family."

"With one thousand people, that is a massive family."

"I have to lead them all, among with Ender and X, and it's no easy task. And there is the rest of the faction council members as well."

"So, anyway, how did the trial go?"

"Seven in favor of letting you go, two against, and one undecided. Same thing with you joining the faction."

"Who was the one undecided?"

"The funny thing was, it was X. And X wanted you here in the first place. My best guess is that she was trying to appeal everyone, since Ender is usually in charge of the military forces."

"What are you and X in charge of?"

"I'm usually in charge of training. I train new recruits to be able to hold their own anywhere. X is usually the one who make the big decisions. The rest of the council members have their own duties, such as farming, hunting, mining, and so on."

"Seems like a lot of things to do."

"Which reminds me, I need to get you a house, and also I need to train you as well."

"Wait, why do I need training?"

"It's standard procedure. Every new recruit needs training."

"I bet I can handle it."

"You'll be surprised" She chuckles. "Not everyone makes it out unscarred."

"Wait... what?"

"But first of all, we need to get you a place to live. So follow me."

"HOW MUCH?" I yell.

"About 16 gold a week, like I said before," the house owner replies.

"That's a rip off, I just got here!"

"That's the best price for you. I'm not ripping off, it's is actually the best price. Believe me, there are people who sell places like this for double."

"Zero, it's actually a nice place." Shadow tells me.

"But I don't have that kind of money!"

"Don't worry about it, you can pay it in a week. But you will have to pay double then."

"WHAT!"

"Zero, calm down!"

"...Fine, I'll take it."

"Alright. I will await your payment next week."

As Shadow and me walk in, I turn to look at the house from the inside. To be perfectly honest, it is pretty good. It's built into the rock, on the side of the massive city road. The entire faction is build into the side of a mountain, so of course they have a lot of space. The house looks onto the busy road, and is about 2 stories high. Of course, there are more houses above me, but at least I don't have to worry about heights. The house itself has a lot of furniture, bookshelves, tables, chairs, and so on and so forth.

"This makes my shelter look like a dirt hole." I think aloud.

"Huh?" Shadow asks.

"Oh, nothing. Just some memories." I reply.

"Well, anyway, since it is your first day, you don't have to come to training right now. But you have to be there tomorrow strictly by five am. If you are late, well, I wouldn't suggest that."

"Why not?"

"You'll see if you're late. Oh, and by the way, since you're not training yet, I suggest you go over to the public mine."

"Why?"

"You have to pay for rent, as well as food, remember?"

"Oh."

"Here," Shadow passes me a map of the faction. "This way you won't get lost."

"Thanks a lot. Now, to see about that rent."

"I have to go right now, so you're on your own. See you tomorrow, and **don't** be late." And with that, Shadow leaves.

"So, Anna," I think, "What do you think she means by don't be late?"

"My advice is to listen to her." Anna replies, appearing on my HUD.

"Agreed. And Anna..."

"Yes?"  
>"Any hacks for mining?"<p>

"Oh, we got some..." She says with a malicious smile.

AN: So, anyone wants to guess what hacks Zero and Anna will use for mining? *cough* x-ray *cough* Still, I feel sorry for that mine... but to the competition. Turns out I need three to nine characters for the next few chapters. Of course I will be making some of them by myself, but if anyone of you guys want to add your own, just give the answer for the competition and the character looks, personality traits and anything else you want to add **in the same review.** This is important. You are only allowed one character. And unfortunately, this also excludes guests from the competition as well, since I cannot be sure if they are not the same person, but just different screen names. And this is about the 10 council members and Minecraft relation competition as well, so there is no confusion or mixup.


	13. Chapter 13: Of love and mines

Chapter 13 – Of love and mines

AN: Cheesepuff, you can still give an idea if you include the character in it as well!

To everyone else, well, I can't be able to upload any more chapters until you give me characters! So get the answer right! Also to the guest who uploaded Jaila, unfortunately, you are wrong, though good character idea. Remember to add appearance and personality traits as well! The answer to this competition is relating more on the powers of the council members and creative mode in Minecraft, just to refresh you guys. I'm surprised that no one got the answer yet. Anyway, to chapter 13!

-Chapter 13-

_"__What do you mean the mine is destroyed!"_

_"__When that new person that __**you **__invited to the faction got to it! He mined so many resources and mined some we missed right under our very noses! He made the mine bone dry, and everyone else was complaining about it! Then, all of a sudden, it collapsed right after he walked from the mine! Thank Notch that no one was hurt, but we need to find a new mine now!"_

_"__Well, that's Zero for you. He overdid it again, didn't he?"_

_"__Enough joking, Shadow! This deserves punishment! I demand..."_

_"__ENOUGH!"_

_"__..."_

_"__Zero is an... interesting development. It is by pure chance that we found him. His power might be enough to take down the Empire."_

_"__Still, we now need a new mine."_

_"__Ask Zero himself. He can tell where valuable ores might be. How else do you think he managed to strip all the resources?"_

_"__Mining is my responsibility. How do you think it would appear to the faction if I asked a new member for help! They would want me out!"_

_"__Then ask Zero politely, and privately."_

_"__...Fine. I will ask him."_

_"__Council dismissed."_

_..._

_"__Shadow, Ender, stay here for now. I want to talk to you both."_

_"__What is it?"_

_"__...What do you think of Zero?"_

_"__Arrogant. I personally think that he is too confident in his power and he thinks that no one will stop him if he does something wrong."_

_"__Ender, that is an unfair assessment. Zero does know right and wrong. He agreed to help take down the Empire, because the wrong they both done and are doing."_

_"__Shadow, we don't know where his loyalties lie. He could be lying."_

_"__He hasn't ran off and gave our base coordinates away."_

_"__He could have a communicator. We use the system, so why not the king?"_

_"__Ender, you know that we monitor all communication coming from and to the base. Thanks to our science and tech experts, they somehow made a redstone machine to track all communication systems in a short range." _

_"__Still, there are other methods of communication, X."_

_"__Ender, you're still sore about the fact that he beat you, aren't you?"_

_"__Shadow, he got a lucky shot."_

_"__Lucky my foot. You know that he can beat you."_

_"__With his powers. Not by himself."_

_"__Don't doubt Zero."_

_"__We still don't know where his loyalties lie."_

_"__Like I said before, he wants to take down the Empire."_

_"__How do you know that?"_

_"__He told me."_

_"__How can you trust him so easily!"_

_"__X trusts him enough to tell me to find him in the first place!"_

_"__How does X know where his loyalties lie!"_

_"__We trust him enough to tell him about our faction, and he doesn't know anything about the history of Minecraftia before I told him, so how the hell is he supposed to know who to trust! We trust him, why can't you!"_

_"__YOU FANCY HIM!"_

_"__..."_

_"__Are you _blushing_?"_

_"__...N...N-No."_

_"__Oh Notch. That's it. And I was just jumping to conclusions."_

_"__...No... it's..."_

_"__Shadow, you know about having... romantic... interests in members of the faction is dangerous for leaders. It's influences their choices too much. That's why both the leaders and the council members don't have... romantic relationships with others."_

_"__I know... but... it's nothing, X."_

_"__Are you sure it's nothing?"_

_"__...Yes. I'm training the new recruits tomorrow. I won't go easy on Zero, if you are wondering."_

_"__Something tells me that you have to train Zero harder. Make him not use his abilities, push him to his limit. Can you do that?"_

_"__Yes."_

AN: So, I though of adding a little romance in there. Why? Because it's me. Just to stir things up a little. If anyone of you guys disagrees with it, well, I'm the author, so too bloody bad. Don't worry about the length, it's will be long next chapter!


	14. Chapter 14: Training Day

Chapter 14 – Training Day

AN: To Cheesepuff, even though I think you misinterpreted what I said, I will try to involve your character, though I will have to give him an actual name. Still keeping all your names for him! However, he is going to appear later in the story, since his description is... interesting. To Anonymous (guest), who right now is the only one who actually got it right, congrats! Your character is going into the story right now!

To everyone else: I am now accepting your own characters, since I need some now! Now, you don't have to figure out the answer to the competition, but however, people who figured out the competition answer will get character priority. Here is another hint: What does 10 has in relationship with creative mode? Is it something about the powers of the 10 council members? Also, I need girl characters as well as boys, preferably four boys, five girls. So there are now two lines. One of girl characters, one of boy characters.

-Chapter 14-

"Zero, wake up. Zero wake up! ZERO, WAKE UP!" And with that, Anna shocks me into action. And when I say shocks, I mean literally shocks me with electricity.

"OW! What the heck was that for?"

"To wake you up! You have fifteen minutes left to get to training!"

"Wait, what... oh no!"

"Now hurry up!"

After mining at the mine yesterday, I walked straight back home, and paid my house owner the rent for four weeks. I also with the resources, made myself diamond armor, and a pick, since I broke my iron one mining. Now, they are on an armor stand that I happened to find in the house. I then rushed to the bank, dropped off most of my valuables in the ender chest vault, and went to a restaurant to buy myself dinner. As soon as I got home, there was a council member who wanted me to find him a new mine, since the old one collapsed because of me. I was shocked for a few seconds, then apologized to the council member as much as I can, and showed him a new mining location. He thanked me, and ask if I could not tell anyone. I of course agreed, since I was the one who caused the mess in the first place. After that, I went to bed, exhausted for the day, only to wake up in the morning to the fact that I was going to be late for training. Unless...

"Anna, I need hack speed right now!"

"Right. Get outside and prepare to run."

Quickly putting on my normal clothes, I run outside and kneel down, right fist level with the ground. I raise my leg and prepare to run, legs acting like a spring, like a sprinter getting ready for his race.

"Hack: Speed!"

And with that, I run faster than ever, leaving my house behind in a blink of an eye. Quickly taking a left turn, I begin to cross town, running across street to street. I also notice while I am running that no one seems to be up yet. I guess it's too early.

Finally making a final right turn, I quickly pull up right next to the training location, which is in the corner of the faction. As I make a sharp stop, turning around and pushing my feet against my momentum, with my hand on the floor for balance, I hear a loud crack behind me.

"Zero! What the hell was that?"

I look around and noticed Shadow to the left of me, in front of the training building. I prepare to get up and say hi, but suddenly a massive wind pushes against me! Using all of my strength, I pull myself through the wind, and it dies down.

"What the heck was that?" I stand up, and turn to ask Shadow what that wind was. The problem was that she disappeared.

"Shadow? Where'd you go?" I turn to the wall where the loud cracking noise came from.

"Holy..." A massive hole appeared while I was looking away, with the back having so many cracks, it was pointless to count them all! Looking around, I find Shadow with her back against the wall, a few feet up from the floor! Suddenly, she begins to fall down, and I run and catch her before she could fall onto the floor.

"Shadow, you okay?" She takes a few seconds to rest, and picks herself up, moving out of my arms.

"I'm fine, Zero." She replies testily. "But you have a wall to fix."

"Wait, I did that?"

"Did you not see your speed? You caused your momentum to create a strong wind, and all of your momentum went into the wall! I'm surprised that nothing else got carried away with your wind!"

"Shadow? Are you feeling okay?" I ask. "You seem... different."

"I am alright, no thanks to you. Now come on. You need to come with me into the training hall." She turns quickly and walks into the stone training building before I could say anything.

"Anna, what's going on with Shadow? She seems like a completely different person."

"Zero, she's frustrated with something. I don't know what, because I can't read minds!"

"I just wonder if you knew, that's all."

"Best for us to get into that training hall quickly."

"Right." And I walk through the training hall's doors, remembering to take off my eyepiece, to make myself look more human.

"Whoa. This is the training hall?"

A three story high space, with the inside as big as a warehouse, consists of the training hall. It also has more doorways at the sides and back, leading into more rooms. In the middle, Shadow is standing with up to nine people in the middle of the hall.

"What took you so long, Zero?" Shadow coldly says.

"I ran here as fast as I can. Maybe too fast." I reply.

"And now we have to fix that wall." Giving me odd looks from the other trainees as they wonder what Shadow means. "Now everyone, pay attention."

"Now, all of you are to be a part of the faction. Well, you need to train first. Everyone in the faction has some measure of fighting ability, and you will need that ability. In fact, I believe Zero here is the only one who knows how to fight." Why is Shadow boasting about me?

"But first, we need to see what level you are at. So, I prepared an obstacle course. First up, parkour. Zero, you're up first. Step on that iron pressure plate on the floor." I walk to the said pressure plate, and step on it. Suddenly, the floor ahead of me moved away to reveal a parkour course! There was water in the bottom, a ladder on the side to climb out, and half slabs supported by cobblestone pillars, with ladders on some bits, and a timed section at the end where if you don't pay enough attention, you get pushed down into the water below.

"Zero, what are you waiting for? You're being timed... now!" I quickly prepared my hacks with Anna when Shadow quickly says, "Oh, and don't use your 'special' abilities as well. Just you."

Well. Now I'm lost. I never had been without my hacks.

"Okay, converting energy source into human energy, switching off all support systems... and now you are essentially a human. Don't worry, I'm here." Anna calmly says.

"Why are you listening to her?" I think to Anna. And I jump to the first platform.

Quickly jumping from platform to platform, I run as fast as my human body can handle. I easily cleared the first section of the parkour. I hear Shadow behind me mutter, "I need to make this harder." But anyway, now onto the second part of this parkour course. Timed parkour. I need to figure out the timing of each platform. "One, two, three, there!" I think, as the platform ahead of me jumps out. "Then a five second interval, then it slides back in. Each platform ahead has a second difference." I prepare to jump to the first one. "One, two, now!" And I jump and land just when it slides out! I jump to the next one, confident in my timing. After doing this eleven times, I prepare to jump to the final one when I realized that it has a different timing than the others, it's sliding in and out of the wall faster! No time to calculate the timing! "I have to jump now!" And I jump to the final platform.

*_splash*_

The final guy to run the parkour course falls into the water at the timing section. I relieved that I didn't fall in, because apparently, nearly all the trainees said that the water is ice cold. Only one other person made it to the end, a boy called Jones, who's about 15, 5' 2", lanky, and has extraordinary pale skin. He excitedly says to me that he wants to see how the parkour comes out of the floor, as he never seen that sort of design before, as well as mentioning the fact that I was lucky to get to the final jump, which had a different timing to the others, in fact, two seconds later but slides back in after three seconds. I was impressed, since he saw that, and I ask him how he noticed. "I'm good with redstone." He replies quickly.

As the last person climbs out of the water, Shadow says that I had the best time, and Jones second. Everyone else has no time.

"Right. Everyone, too the next bay." Shadow commands.

"But we're cold!" Someone complains in the group.

"So? It's your own fault that you fell in. You just have to deal with it." Flicking a lever on the floor, and an archery range pop out.

"Everyone, get a bow and arrows. You have to hit the button that is lighted up. Miss, too slow or if you hit the wrong button, well, you don't want to find out."

I quickly grab a bow and some arrows, and got to a bay. Shadow passes behind me and says, "Remember Zero, don't use your special abilities."

I reply with, "Got that." If Shadow not talking to me, I'm not talking to her, for now.

Shadow goes to the end of the range, and says out loud, "Ready... Go!" I quickly hit the first button alight with the arrow, and prepare to aim for the next one. I hear a scream to my right and think, "This is going to be a loooong day."

AN: If anyone's wondering, Zero clothes are like the Steve skin clothes, and the eyepiece is similar to DBZ scouters, without the ear peace. If you don't know what they are, then look it up. Also, **I AM NOT ABLE TO DO THE NEXT CHAPTER WITHOUT 9 CHARACTERS, 3 BOYS, 5 GIRLS.** So please, send me your character. But please, don't send more than one; otherwise it would be unfair to others.


	15. Chapter 15: Capture the flag!

Chapter 15: CTF

AN: Sorry about not uploading in a thousand years. Wait. Sorry, I mean a few days. I have been busy, and I was waiting for characters as well. To reward your patience, I give you guys a longer chapter! Also, please use the layout for sending in characters at the bottom of this page!

-Chapter 15-

After about a week of training, the entire group was exhausted out of their minds. Including me. I never get exhausted, but I guess without my hacks and abilities, I'm basically human. I barely got punished, but on the first day, in the stealth course, I got found by the seekers, and got a splash potion of harming straight in my face. Of course, without my abilities, it hurt. After the first day, Shadow says to everyone that I got the best score, and everyone should look at me for help. Of course, that got me a lot of jealous looks. As soon as I tried to talk to one of them, they all left. I tried talking to Shadow as well, but she just told me not to use my hacks in the faction, and she left as quickly as they did. Only with Anna talking to me, I walked home.

After that, Shadow ran us through the same thing over and over again, but it was randomized each day. Now, the entire team is getting friendlier with each other, including me.

This day, however, it's going to be different.

"All of you listen up. Because all of you can now do all the courses with ease now, we're doing something different. We're going to play capture the flag." With that, my ears picked up (not literally, of course). "The teams go as follows..."  
>Me, Jones, Jack, Via and Holly vs. Scott, Michael, Jaila, Amber, and Jade.<p>

Jones, of course, I talked to earlier. He has black hair, amber eyes and extraordinarily pale skin. He's very hyper, and loves to be funny. Jack, who has brown eyes and black hair, is lazier, but why do I get the feeling that he is going to be trouble? Via, with lightly tanned skin, aqua-blue eyes, and dark brown hair which normally covers one eye, is smart, witty, funny, and some-what friendly. She usually wears a blue and white checkered hoodie, a gray undershirt, jean shorts, black and purple shoes, and a silver moon necklace. I swear that necklace transformed into a bow during the archery range course. I was talking to her earlier, she and Jones being one of the only person who talks to me... sometimes, along with Jones (who talks to me a lot.) and Jaila. Via, is sometimes too secretive, and cocky. Holly, with green eyes, long brown hair usually tied into a ponytail, is shy, but cunning, and always thinking ahead. Now to the other team. Scott usually wears blue jeans, black sweatshirt, running shoes, sunglasses, and wears a headset for some reason. He has lightly tanned skin, blue eyes and blond hair. He is enthusiastic, a bit random, but creative. Michael, who has black hair and eyes, is the most serious. Jaila, with black hair and brown eyes, is more secretive, like Via. For some reason, she seems to have some sort of interest in me, but I'm not sure why. Amber, with copper hair and amber eyes, is the smartest out of the group. Jade, with blond hair and green eyes, is kind, but is extremely serious during fighting.

"And that's how the teams will go. I will spectate." Shadow finishes. "Both teams go to each side of the training hall. Zero's team will go to the left wall. Scott's team will go to the right." She walks off through a side door.

The team I'm in begins to walk to the left wall. "So, who is leader in this team?" Jones says.

"Of course, that would be me." Jack replies arrogantly.

"No way! We need to have a vote first!" Jones shouts.

"And I vote for myself!"

"You can't vote for yourself! It's against the rules!"

"Says who?"

"Knock it off, you two!" Via shouts at them both, her eyes turning magenta, which was, actually, kind of scary.

"-! Yes ma'am!" They both shout in fear.

Me and Holly laughs at their predicament, and after laughing, I begin talking to the entire group, "Guys, and girls, this is a team effort. I am pretty sure that we don't have to elect a leader. All ideas are good. So any suggestions?"

"Isn't it best not to give in ideas when you don't know what the arena would look like?" Holly says.

"Good point. So we wait." We reach the wall, and begin to wait around. A second later, a loud voice says to us, "Both teams are now at each arena. I will activate the arena." It's Shadow talking to us. Suddenly, a massive arena came up, and it looks like... a giant maze? On our side, a long wall, reaching to each side of the training hall. In the middle of the hall, a tall tower rises up from the ground. I immediately begin to climb it, and with my team behind me, we all climb to the top of the tower.  
>From up there, I can easily see that it's a maze. "As each team might noticed, the entire no man's land is a maze. This maze has several obstacles. I know that this sort of scenario might never happen in real life, but it's best for training. In each teams tower is a flag. Protect that flag, and capture the other teams flag as well. You cannot move it for this scenario. Also, chest with wooden, blunt swords and bows with blunt arrows will be in each chest. Use those supplies as weapons. And be careful with them, as they can hurt someone. There are also other supplies in the chests. Put the opponent's flag on the same pedestal as your home flag to win. You may begin... now!" And with that, Shadow begins the war game.<p>

"Right then. We need to go on the defense, but we also need to send people into the arena." Holly analyses.

"Um... guys?" Jones says. "What's the rope for?"  
>"I don't know. Just keep it anyway, it might be useful."<p>

"Alright." Jones rummages through the chests again, and gives the boys each a sword, and the girls a bow and a couple of arrows.

"So, how many people should go in?" Via says.

"I think it's best to go on the defense right now. We should keep three people here, and send two people in." Holly says.

"Does everyone agree with this?" I say, and everyone says they do. "Right then, who should go into the maze?"

"Um... maybe you and Via?" Holly says to me. "You both are best on attack, and with a sword expert and a bow expert, you can easily back each other up. Me, Jones, and Jack will stay here and defend."

"Man, I can't believe that they don't give us TNT!" Jack exclaims, rummaging through the chest as well.  
>"I don't think that would be advisable, considering." Via dryly says.<p>

"Alright, so that's the game plan?" I ask.

"Right." Holly replies.

"Guys, here!" Jones shouts, and throws us all something. "Put it in your ear, it's a comms link. With it, we can communicate with each other long distances."

"How do you know what it is in the first place?" I say, putting it in my ear.

"I looked at their electronic stores."

"Oh. Okay, then, see you guys back here with the flag!" And I climb down the ladder quickly.  
>"Zero, don't run ahead!" Via says above me. I wait for her down below, and when she gets down, we both climb over the wall, and begin to run through the maze.<p>

Of course, that's when the traps begun.

"Via, behind you!" A massive wall slides up, blocking our way back. "Yeesh, what's with the traps in this place?" I look ahead of me, and see parkour. "So, we have to get pass this entire course. Okay, seems easy." I jump straight into the parkour course, and easily get to the other side. "Come on, Via! Let's get to their base first!"

"Right!" And she easily gets over the course, but suddenly stumbles at the last block, falling into the water below. "I got you!" I say, as I grab her arm, and pull her up. "That was close." She says. "I didn't really needed your help, but thanks." And with that, we both run off into the maze.

After running through more parkour, and through more traps, including a pitfall trap, we manage to reach the other side.

"Alright, so they are either on the wall, or in the tower. If I was them, I'll put sword guys on the walls, and archers in the tower. Zero, what we need to do is... Zero?" Via says behind me, as I climb over the wall. "All right, now where are you guys!" I yell.  
>"Or, you can just create a distraction, and tell everyone where we are." I hear Via mutter. "Zero, I going to climb over the wall right where the tower is. Keep them distracted."<p>

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" I yell, while Via runs down to the tower, and climbs over the wall. After quickly entering the tower, she appears at the top, waving the enemy's flag at me.

"Alright, you already beat them all!" I say, and run straight to the tower.

"No," I hear Via say in my ear, "No one's here!"

"Wait. If no one is here..."

"They're all at our base! We need to get there as fast as possible!"

"Guys, are you alright?" I say to my comms, trying to talk to our team defending. "Guys?" I say again.

"They're not responding. Either the comms is broken, or they already are under attack!" Via says, climbing down the tower.

Suddenly, Holly's voice comes on the comms. "What do you mean, we're under attack. We're all alright, no attack yet."

"Holly, be prepared for an attack. All of the team on the other side is in the maze somewhere, and might be attacking you soon!" Via quickly shouts.

"Alright. We'll be all right here. Get back with the flag quickly!"

"Right. Zero, let's go."

Running through the maze again, we encounter even more parkour, traps, and when we got to our home side, we were tired, but felt victorious. We climb over the wall. "Hello! We're back with the flag!" I yell!

"Hello?" I repeat. "Anyone there?"

"Something's wrong." Via says. "They're not responding. We need to get up there and check." Via starts to climb the tower's ladder, me right behind her. Suddenly, she shouts, "Zero! Lo-" and she is pull by an unseen person into the tower, dropping the enemy's flag. I quickly slide down, now knowing that the enemy's right there.

"Anna?" I think.

"And I was beginning to think you forgotten me." She replies, smiling on my vision.

"So... I know I'm not suppose to use hacks, but you're not a hack, you're a person!"

"I agree with you. And I think that Shadow wouldn't mind. We should keep the flag down here."

"So, they're expecting us. Should we consider the fact that all of them are up there?"

"Yes. They must be right around the ladder. They might be thinking they be able to disable us, or you, in this case."

"So, they're around the ladder, expecting me to climb up that way. What I need is another way." I look around and see something, and as soon as I see it, I smile.

"That'll do!"

POV: Via

"Damn, I can't believe that they tricked us like that!" I think, as I'm tied up in the corner. Our opponents found a use for their rope, after all. Of course, I'm gagged as well, to prevent talking to the others to think up a new plan, or warning Zero. Now, it's five against one.

I hear Amber say, "Now, there's only one left. As soon as he comes up here, we get the flag back, and win the game.

"Why don't we just go after him instead?" Jade suggests.

"We can easily lose him in the maze. We wait for him to get up here, and when he does, it's a win."

I look at my teammates, and see that not one of them managed to escape their ropes, either. I look around to see if there's anything I can use...

And see a hand appear on the fence around the windows.

POV: Zero

Thanks to the vines I saw earlier, I climb up the wall of the tower. They'll never see me coming!

After climbing over the fence, I take my sword from my back, and see my teammates looking at me, shock evidently in their faces. They're all tied up, so they can't help me yet.

"Go to them, and release them quietly." Anna says.

"Oh come on! I can take them all by myself."

"And this is a team effort. And you cannot use your hacks."

"Fine." I walk quietly over to my teammates, and notice that the other team is looking down the ladder, to see if I come up. They're looking the wrong way if they want to find me! "This will be easy!" I think. I quickly get to Via, and quickly release her from her bonds. She gets up, and quietly goes to Holly. I go to Jones to release him.

Of course, that's when I trip over a wooden sword.

Loudly falling over the sword, I hit the ground, hard. Of course, that brings the attention of our opponents.

"How the heck did he get around us!"

"Who cares? Let get them quickly!"

"Via, here!" And I throw her the wooden sword.

"You know how much I hate sword fighting!" She yells back, but she catches the sword anyway, and we both charge them.

I quickly trip over Scott, causing him to fall on the ground. That leaves me with Michael and Jade. I look over to Via, and I see her taking on Amber and Jalia. I turn back to Michael and Jade. I know both of them are good sword fighters. And I see Scott slowly rising up.

"So, three on one? Doesn't seem fair, for you guys." I say.

"Shut up!" Jade shouts, and she charges me first, carrying two swords. She begins to slash at me, and Michael and Scott are preparing to charge me as well. I quickly block Jade's slashes, and as she tries to strike me again from the side, I duck so that the blade misses, and trip her legs over with the flat of my blade. She falls, and Michael and Scott jump over her, carrying each a sword. I quickly block each of their attacks, but I don't know how I can keep it up, with both of them attacking, and Jade getting up again, I can't hold my ground. I begin to shift back slowly, blocking each of their attacks. I bump into someone, and I look behind me, seeing Via at my back as well.  
>"Back to back?" I suggest.<p>

"Really is the only option we have, isn't it?" Via replies. The enemy group surrounds us.  
>"Come on, you can't beat all of us at once!" Michael shouts.<p>

"You're wrong. We're not trying to beat you." I say.

"What?" Amber asks.

"We're both distracting you. While you guys were fighting us, we just won the game!" The entire group looks over to our flag...

And see the opponents flag next to it!

"Wha... how!" Jalia exclaims.

"We already released the rest of our group, and we drew your attention away from them to us!" Via says. Right next to the flag, Holly, Jack and Jones are right next to the flags, smiling and holding weapons.

"They climbed down the ladder, and found your flag, after me quickly telling them." I say.

"Game over. Zero's team wins." I hear Shadow says.

"What... no!" Michael exclaims.

"You guys put up a good fight," Shadow says after climbing up the ladder. "But Michael's team needs to focus on defense as well as attack, and on what they should be thinking about. Zero's team managed to distract you guys, and use that to their advantage."

"You guys did have a good plan, to strike us and overwhelm us quickly. Like lightning." I say, "But we managed to recover. Good job, guys!" I say to Holly, Jones, and Jack. "You managed to sneak around them."

"It was too easy!" Jack replies.

"Thank you." Holly shyly says.

I smile, and walk over to Michael, and put up my hand. "Good game!"

Michael looks at the hand for a few seconds. And smiles. "Good game." He shakes it.

AN: GS Gaming, guest, you failed to give me a description, so I'm making it up. Hope that's okay with you. Also, not including ages, because I said earlier that they are all teenagers. The respawn process also stops aging as well, and you also come back the age of your prime. Just mentioning that, for references. For people that are giving me characters, here is a layout for them next time:

Name:

Appearance:

Personality:

Weapon(s) of choice

Likes:

Dislikes:

History:

Anything else:

AN: Hope that you guys use this layout, to make things a little easier for me!


	16. Chapter 16: Lightning strike

Chapter 16: Lightning strike

-Chapter 16-

_"__So Zero doesn't know."_

_"__I didn't tell him about the secret of that group."_

_"__Good. Otherwise, it might be disastrous."_

_"__He should know, if not right now, then soon."_

_"__He should know that?"_

_"__Yes. It's unfair that he doesn't know, X."_

_"__Eventually. Not now, Shadow."_

"So, why are we in the middle of the forest, while it's dark?" Amber asks.

"Last game was capture the flag. Now, you all have to find one thing: a ruin in the middle of the forest." Shadow replies.

"Without any clues? Doesn't seem fair." Jaila questions.

"Nothing in life is fair, Jaila," Shadow replies with a smile. "However, I already gave you everything you need."

"And what about the dark? Everyone knows that mob rising occurs in the dark." Holly nervously says. A spider screeches right after she finishes talking, enforcing her point.

"The mobs aren't a problem. All of you already know how to deal with all of them. However, on the safe side, you are going in teams of two. You pick this time. I will also be on standby, and all of you will have a comm each. Don't fiddle with them, they are already on a closed frequency, and we don't want to broadcast our entire location to the Empire. Even so, don't use them unless it's an emergency." She seriously adds in. "I will be on standby, and all of your comms are linked to mine. If one of you needs help, call me, and I will track your location via your comms."

"So, Via, want to be partners?" I ask her.

"May as well, we fought together last game." She replies.

"So, Holly," I overhear from Jack. "Want to be partners?"

"Um... I already asked Jones..." She shyly replies.

"What, why ask him? He's no good at fighting!"

"Hey! I might not be as good as Zero, but I know how to take down a few lousy zombies! You on the other hand..." Jones says.

"Oh really? You want to prove it to me?"

"ENOUGH ARGUING, YOU TWO!" Via shouts at them both, her eyes turning magenta again.

"-! Yep! We're not arguing at all!" They both say simultaneously in fear.

The teams went like this: Me and Via, Holly and Jones, Jack and Jaila, Scott and Michael, and finally, Amber and Jade.

"Give me ten minutes to walk to the site. You all stay in the camp for now." Shadow tells us all, and leaves, walking to the edge of the forest. I'm about to talk to her about what happened two weeks ago, but she gives me the cold shoulder and leaves, keeping the trees to her left. Via noticed this. "Zero, what's with you and Shadow?" She asks.

"She's been giving me the cold shoulder since the start of training. I'm not sure why." I reply. "And I thought that she was my friend, because she helped me get to the faction."

"So, that's why Shadow left for a few days." Via mutters, "And we were all wondering what she has been up too."

"Wait, she didn't tell you that I was the objective?"

"She didn't tell us even when she got back!"

"Weird..." I think.

A few minutes later, around ten minutes, Shadow says "Ready... And the game begins!"

Everyone starts running into the forest, in a certain direction. A few groups went where Shadow walked off to. Via looks like she's about to run off, but I quickly say to her, "Wait."

"What is it?"

"I already know where the ruin is."

"Wha... already?"

"Shadow says that she given us everything we need. So, let's think about it."

"We're losing precious time, Zero!"

"Alright, follow me." And I run off towards the deepest part of the forest. Via starts running behind me, and she catches up.

"So, how do you know where the ruin is already, Zero?" Via asks as we run.

"It's all about wordplay. Shadow says that she already gave us everything we need to find the forest."

"But she didn't really say anything." Via says, quickly shooting at a nearby Zombie with a bow. I swear to Notch, that bow keeps appearing from nowhere!

"She already says where it was with the first sentence." I reply. "Think. What did she say when she told us what we had to do?"

"Um, we had to find a ruin in this forest?"

"What exactly?"

"...Something like... you all have to find one thing: a ruin in the middle of the forest."

"And that's the key. She didn't say we had to find a ruin in the forest. She said that we had to find a ruin **in the middle of the forest**!" I confidently say.

Via stumbles a little in shocks, and quickly replies, "But she walked off around the edge of the forest!"

"Shadow knows how to hide. She said to me that she is called Shadow because she can easily infiltrate factions. And no professional stealth... what's the word for it? Ninja, perhaps? Yeah, Ninja. No professional ninja would walk straight to the destination, or base. I came to the faction base with so many detours; it will be hard, if not impossible, for anyone to figure out where we were going! So, it's a detour. She must have walked that way, and once she was out of sight, she would have walk straight to the ruins deep in the forest, and disguised her tracks. It's easy!"

"And if you're wrong?"

"Well, we'll find out."

After about seven minutes of a combination of walking and running, we see a clearing ahead.

"That must be the ruins!" I exclaim.

"Or a clearing."

"Well, we'll see."

We walk into the clearing, and see a big, ruined mossy temple ahead of us. The temple has holes here and there, but it still looks like it has firmly stayed there, and will stay there, for hundreds of years.

"See, what did I tell you!" I say to Via.

"Well, you're correct, but there may be something else we have to worry about." Via worryingly replies.

"What?"

"It looks like there's a storm coming." In the night sky, dark clouds block out stars one by one.

"Are you really afraid of a storm?"  
>"Usually, no, but I got a bad feeling about this one."<p>

"Hey, there's Shadow." I say, noticing Shadow appearing in the doorway.

Shadow says in the comms link, "Game over. Via and Zero wins."

"And we were just about to be here too." I hear a voice behind me. I turn around and Amber and Jade were there.

"We figured out too late about the ruins. We went where Shadow was going, and following her tracks, when they suddenly disappeared! I instantly figured out that it was a trick, as well as figuring out about her wordplay. Still can't believe that we lost." Amber says. "And I'm supposed to be the smartest out of the group." She sighs afterwards.

"Amber, you don't have to be smart all of the time. It's okay if we make mistakes once in a while." Shadow says to her. "Why don't all of you here wait in the temple? I'll inform the others where the ruins are."

"We better. The storm is coming closer." Jade says.

"Right then, let's get inside before anything happens." Via says.

"What about the others?" I say.

"I already told them where the ruins are. They will come, but for now, get under some cover before anything happens." Shadow replies.

Of course, that's when everything went wrong.

Suddenly, a great light hits me with massive energy! Lightning! A great boom echoes across the forest, and I collapse on the ground, electricity arching from my body. This hurts like hell! "ARGH!" I scream.

"Zero!" Everyone says, and they all rush towards me.

"NO! STAY BACK!" I desperately say. Everyone halts in their tracks, confusion in their faces. "...Zero?" Amber asks.

"GET BACK! I'M GOING TO EXPLODE!"

"What?! What the heck are you talking about? You shouldn't even be alive, after that lightning hit you! That lightning shouldn't even be able to hit you!" Via says confusingly.

"TRUST ME ON THIS... ARGH! DAMN IT!" I scream, pain racking across my body. Of course, only I can see what is flashing in red on my HUD.

"Warning. Energy overload. User needs to use Hack: Explosion."

AN: DUN DUN DUNNNNNN! If no one understands this, basically, Zero got struck by lightning, overloading his energy cell, and his body needs to offload the energy quickly. Thus, Hack: Explosion is needed (used in an earlier chapter). However, this can kill everyone who is around Zero right now, and it's painful for him to contain that much energy. What is Zero going to do?

Also, When Zero says to Via about the detours to the base, this was before Zero asked Shadow if she wanted a flight over a few chapters earlier, if anyone was wondering.

See you guys next time!


	17. Chapter 17: Run from Zero!

Chapter 17: Run from Zero!

AN: So... this entire chapter will be from different perspectives. And do you guys know what I hate most? Beside things distracting me. Well, that's writer's block. Also, some updates, and now, Zero and Shadow's trip now took them about six days. Why? Because that creates space for a... read to the bottom to find out!

-Chapter 17-

POV: Shadow

"Everyone, stand back!" I quickly order to everyone around Zero. I seen this before...

"Shadow, what is it? We still have to help him!" Amber says.

"Look, he's going to explode, but he will be fine. If we are caught in the blast, however, we will be killed." I calmly say.

"You're not making any sense!" Jade cries out in frustration.

"Come on, let's go!" I order them, and start running away from Zero as fast as I can. "Follow me, now!"

With a reluctant pace, everyone there begins to follow me as fast as they can. I begin to communicate with everyone on the comm link, "Everyone, get away from the center of the forest!" I shout into it, and there are responses of why.

"There's going to be an explosion at the ruins! Everyone, you have to get away to the edges of the forest now!" Some panicked response, but everyone understands, and they say they are running as fast as they can now.

Suddenly, I hear someone's voice in my ear say, "You need to get everyone out quickly! According to the trackers, everyone's still is in blast range!"

Wait, is that Anna?

"I hacked into the comms." Anna quickly says. "But Zero can't contain it much longer! You guys have to get to the edges of the forest!"

"You have to get me eight minutes! This forest is huge!"

"Zero can only contain it for two!"

"Tell him that we need more time, Anna!"

"Right. Right now, I am trying to help him with the massive increase in energy. I cannot talk with you while this is happening."

"Understood."

I begin thinking, "Please Zero. You have to contain it for enough time for us to get away!"

POV: Zero

"ARGH!"

"Zero! Focus!" I hear Anna shout in my ear.

"It... so much... powe-ARGH!"

"Zero! Shadow needs eight minutes for you to contain the blast!"  
>I try to say, "Did she just say eight!" But it came out as, "Gr, AH, argh, RARGH!" The pain... so much...<p>

NO! I'm not letting go! Never!

"ARGH!"

"Come on, Zero! Focus! They're all still in the blast range!"

What!

No... I can't let go of the energy. I can't take their lives!

"DAMN IT!" I scream in frustration and pain. I can't take this anymore!

"Zero! Hold it in! Don't give up!" Anna shouts.

"ARGH! I AM NOT GIVING UP! ARGHHH!"

POV: Anna

"I don't believe this!" I think. I look at the readings again.

"Zero, you're doing it! Your power is stabilizing!" I shout to him. This is unbelievable! I didn't even think this was possible!  
>Zero begins to get up, with some struggle. I say to him, "Zero, how did you managed to stabilize your power surge? You exploded last time, and yet you controlled it!" Zero doesn't respond. "Zero?"<p>

Seeing with his eyes, I see him look up. And I feel him smile. But it is not his usual smile.

"Zero? Respond." I ask him.

"... Let's play."

"...Zero?"

"RARGH!"

POV: Shadow

What was that? I turn to where Zero is. I swear, I heard him shout from all the way out here.

"What was that?" I hear Jade say.

Suddenly, Anna begins talking to me using the comm link.

"Run. Shadow. Run as fast as you can."

"Why? What happened?" I quickly ask.

"Zero went..."

I see something running in the distance, approaching extremely fast. I quickly sidestep to the left...

To see Zero run past me, and hits with his fist at least ten trees in a row before stopping. I see him turn around and face me. He looks... both crazy and really angry. "ROAAARR!" He actually roars at me, like he's some sort of animal!

"...insane." Anna finishes.  
>"I can see that..."<p>

"He managed to keep the energy in his body. However, his mind couldn't handle that much power. He will stay like this until morning, when his mind is used to the power surge."

"Until morning?"

"Until then, run as fast as possible from him. He is not holding back."  
>"ROAAAAHHH!" He roars at all of us.<p>

"Zero, what are you doing?" Amber confusingly asks.

"Everyone, get back! Zero is an enemy now!" I shout at them.

"What?" Via shouts at me. "What the hell is happening?"

"Look, get away from him, and if you have to fight him," I say, talking to everyone both here and through the comm, "Don't hold back. And when I say don't hold back, I mean **don't hold back**. Understand?"

Amber looks at me confusingly. However, Via and Jade looks at me and fully understands what I mean. I hear in my comm Michael and Jaila saying, "Understood." Everyone else, however, is confused.

Zero looks at Amber, and picks up a huge boulder right next to him! He picks it up as easy as if it is a stone, and he throws it at Amber before anyone could react!

POV: Amber

I see the huge boulder coming at me, and think, "Well, this is it. I'm dead." Suddenly, I get tackle by someone rushing at me and pushing me out of the way. They pick me up, and somehow... we begin to hover in the air. I look up to see who saved me...

And see Via. "Um... Via?" I say.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for the save, but... when did you have wings?" Great black wings flaps behind her, which doesn't really helps me make sense of the situation.

"We... have to talk."

Suddenly, a fireball flies pass us in the sky, missing us by an inch!

"Maybe later? Let's get out of here!" I yell.

"Right!" And with that, Via begins flying, maneuvering between fireball after fireball, and through tree after tree.

But a fireball flies straight at us! I see Zero at the ground, facing his palms at us. Is he... throwing fireballs?

No time to think about that now! "Via, look out!" But a person jumps between the fireball and us...

And hits it back!

The blast hits Zero, and I lose sight of him. I look at our rescuer...

To see it was Jade! She's wearing iron armor, and holding an iron sword. When did she get those?

"Jade?" She begins to fall back to the ground, but she says to us...

"Via, quick, you have to get Amber back on the ground, and help me with Zero!"

"Got it!" Via says, and dives straight at the ground. When I think we're about to crash land she pulls up just in time, and drops me to the ground. "Amber, no time to explain, but you have to get back to the camp!"

"No way!" I shout, "I want to help as well!" I pull out my bow from my back. "I'm good with a bow. Let me help you with this!"

"Right." Via smiles. "Okay then." She flies back to the battlefield, me running behind her.

POV: Jade

Fireballs fly at me, but I easily deflect them back at Zero. Some fireballs get to me, but thanks to my blast resistance armor, they don't feel like anything! "You're going to have to do better than that, Zero!" I taunt him, while thinking, "What's with Zero, and why is he acting like this?"

Zero looks at me, and smiles. But his smile is more... dark. "**Hack: Fire...**" I quickly think he is about to hit me with another fireball, and ready myself to deflect it. A small light burns in his right hand, and expands into another fireball. But...

He closes his hands, and they erupt in flames!

"**Punch!**" Running swiftly at me, I realize that this is going to hurt! Unless...  
>"<strong>Equip: Fire Armor!<strong>" I shout, and call forth my fire armor. My body shines with a bright light, and my armor disappears. When the light dies, golden armor replaces it!

Zero punches me in the chest, and I get push back, but only for a few inches.

"With this armor, your fire punches have barely any effect." I declare. He smirks at me, and then runs at me, calling an diamond sword out of thin air and shouting, "**Hack: Killaura!**"

He attacks me with fierce ferocity, slicing and stabbing at me, giving me barely enough time to deflect his attacks! My armor begins chipping away, piece-by-piece. I need to call in a different set!  
>"<strong>Equip: Protection Armor!<strong>" I shout, and my armor changes into my diamond armor, with max protection. Even so, I still see some dents being formed!

"Well, I'm impressed. You're even denting my maximum protection armor."

"Hey, Zero!" I hear someone shout, and arrows fly over my head, firing at Zero! Zero dodges them all, but suddenly, I hear a voice above me shout, "**Max Speed!**" A blur shoots straight at Zero, and knocks him back, sending him flying! I look at the attacker, and see Via, hovering in the air and shaking her wrist. "Argh, that hurts!"

I hear rustling, and I turn around to see Amber walk out from some bushes. "Thanks for the distraction, Amber!" Via says.  
>"No problem," she replies, "and it seems like the rest of the gang's here!" A few more rustling, and everyone comes out. Jones, Holly, Jack, Jaila, Scott, and Michael. "What are you guys doing here?" I ask in surprise.<p>

"We saw the fireworks, and came to help!" Jaila says confidently.

"Great, now we can all die together." I hear Via mutter.

"Guys, Zero is a strong opponent. Are you sure you really want to do this?" I hear Shadow ask.

"Come on! We're a team, aren't we?" Jones states.

Suddenly, a boom sounds behind me, and I spin around. Zero's back.

"... You really shouldn't have done that..." Zero mutters. "ARGH!" He screams!

"Damn, everyone get ready!" I say to everyone.

"AHHH!" Zero shouts. And he charges straight to us.

AN: So... why did I make the changes mention at the top? Well... to create a miniseries! Basically, I will write anything, yes, anything that will come into my head while thinking about the next chapter. And, if you want, I will do some requests as well from you guys! As long as it's not anything weird... The miniseries will be called 'The Hacker: Misadventures!' So, if you're bored, just read that series. Coming out soon!


	18. Chapter 18: Dark Zero

Chapter 18: Dark Zero

AN: Hello guys. Yes, I know it's been a long time, but I was adapting to school life again. Ughhh. Anyway, here is the next chapter, and it's very long!

-Chapter 18-

POV: Via

Do you know what I hate more than everything right now?

First of all: the rain. Of course, it's beginning to rain.

Second? Me being dominated by a crazy overpowered guy, ready to tear off my wings. Of course, he's also one of my friends and teammates.

Zero charges straight at Jade, then suddenly jumps at least 20 meters off the ground, and begins to try to hit me. Of course, I have wings, so I easily dodge the attempted attack, flapping higher and higher. "Next time when you try to attack a bird kid, get wings!" I taunt at him. Because I'm safe, right?

Nope.

Of course, Zero just hovers in the air, and starts flying straight at me... without wings. I just begin to say, "What..." when he's right in front of me, and punches me in the stomach before I could say, "Since when can you fly without wings?"

Apparently, flight is a free market.

I begin falling straight to the ground, out of breath. I think, "You're falling. Use your wings, dummy!" So I stretch out my wings, and pull up, hovering in the air. I hear behind me, "Via, are you alright?" Jade says.

"Yeah, he just surprised me, that's all." I say, grimacing. That punch hurt though. Since when could Zero fly?

"Via, above you!" Amber shouts, and I hear a 'shht' and immediately afterwards a groan above me. I look up.

Blood drips on my face, as I see Zero holding his left arm, with an arrow sticking in it.

Charming.

I fly back down to my friends, and Zero slowly flies down, holding his arm.

"Take that, Zero!" Amber says. Zero only smiles at this...

And pulls out the arrow, and blood begin to pour out of his arm. I see Hazel flinch. "Zero? Are you okay?" She asks, worriedly. Not exactly a good time, Hazel. Zero grimaces in pain, but is still smiling. That's... freaky, to be honest. Why would he smile with a wound like that? Zero suddenly shouts, "**Hack: Regen**!"

And the blood stops pouring. I did a double take. It looks like his arm is... regenerating. In a few seconds, his arm is completely healed, with no traces of the wound. "Holy..." I hear Jones mutter, and turning around I see everyone's face in horror and amazement, even Shadow. "Hahahahaha..." Zero laughs.

"What the heck! The arrow didn't even hurt him!" Jack shouts.

"How the hell are we going to stop him!" Jaila shouts.  
>Michael just smiles, and says, "I have a way." He suddenly rises up his hand at Zero, and shouts, "<strong>Whirlwind!<strong>" Instantly, a wall of wind surrounds Zero!

Great. Another secret that Shadow failed to tell us. Wonder if there are any more guys with powers?

Suddenly, I hear a shout in the wind. "**Hack: Nuker!**" And the whirlwind fades away, leaving a Zero in a small pit. "What... how!" I hear Michael cries out.

I hear Amber cry out, "Zero destroyed the ground underneath him to disrupted your winds, Michael!"

"Humph. I have more of where that came from. The weather's even perfect!" Michael. It's raining. How is it perfect? "I'm going to need a little time for this. Can you guys distract him?"

"Even better." Jaila says. "Let me help you all. **Amp: Speed!**" A blue sphere erupted out of her, and hit all of us. Suddenly, I feel as light as the wind! "What I just did is giving you all greater speed." Jaila quickly explains. "No time for details. Let's do this."

"Hang on!" I hear Jones say. "Since when did you all have powers? And is there anymore hidden powers that we should know, you guys?" I agree with Jones on this one. Any more secrets, Shadow?

"Now is not the time. Focus on the biggest threat now, guys!" Shadow quickly says.

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore!" Jack shouts, and he charges Zero with his iron sword. Is he insane?

"Jack, wait!" Amber yells.

"Take this!" And he swings his sword at Zero's midriff...

Only for the sword to shatter like glass.

Jack stares at the broken hilt in shock. "...H-how?" he stammers.

Zero stares at Jack, and shouts, "**Hack: Knockback!**" He crouches and quickly punches Jack, sending him flying into our group, hitting Scott.

"Watch it, Jack!" Scott shouts from under him.

"Hey, not my fault!"

"GRAGH!" Zero roars.

"Hey!" Michael shouts, "Guys, charge him all at once! I need some time!"

"Got it!" We all shout, and we charge at him from all sides. I fly up, and dive straight towards him. "You can't take us all at once, Zero!" I shout.

Zero just calmly stands there. Suddenly, he shouts, "**Hack: Forcefield!**"

Out from nowhere, I feel I'm being electrocuted! "Gah!" I shout in pain, and I'm get pushed back by an invisible force! I collapse on the ground, and I see everyone lying on the floor around Zero. "What the..." I hear Michael mutter. I turn around to look at them both slowly, but Notch, the pain was unbelievable!

"Ahahahahah!" Zero laughs.

"Humph. You may have taken out my team..." Michael smirks. "But I'm already lined up, and ready to go. Trust me," he points his right hand up, index finger pointing at the sky. "This won't hurt a bit." Suddenly, I hear rumbling in the distance, like a storms coming. Instantly, Michael shouts, "**LIGHTNING!**"

Wait. Michael, no!

Michael points his finger at Zero, and lightning strikes him where he stands! Zero collapses, kneeling on the ground and shouting in pain. "Not easy, going against someone who controls the weather, is it?" Michael says.

"...Ha...haha...hahaha...HAHAHAHA!" Zero laughs. Michael stumbles in shock, the fool.

"Wait. How are you even talking! That was enough electricity to kill a whole horde of hostile mobs!"

"Playtime is over. GRRAAAAAGGGGHHH!" Suddenly, Zero erupts in... darkness. His body gets surrounds in a black, fire-like mist, beginning to cover the ground... and all of us! I remember my vision fading away to black...

POV: Michael

Damn it! I didn't think that Zero is that powerful! Even my strongest weapon in my arsenal didn't even faze him! He even took out everyone on his own! "What... What are you?" I stammer in shock.

"AHAHAHA!" Zero laughs. His eyes... his eyes became... pure white! Like that legend... "I supposed that I must thank you for the meal. The meal to my awakening!" Suddenly, Zero vanishes. I look around, but I can't see him! "**Hack: Knockback!**" I turn around, only to get a direct punch to the chest! I feel like a small explosive hit me, and I fly backwards straight into a tree! I slowly collapse on the ground.

I hear Zero beginning to speak as I lie facedown. "When the lightning hit me at the ruins, I was driven insane by the pain. And yet, I protected you guys from the incoming explosion. No idea why I would do that, since you are all pathetically weak, but I was on the tipping point. Between light and darkness. Your lightning gave me even more pain, and pushed me over the edge!" He laughs. "I guess I must thank you for releasing me. Humph, but now, there's nothing that you can do for me." I slowly turn up, panting from both summoning lightning and of the attack. I see a diamond sword above me, swinging down, and I quickly roll out of the way. Zero turns to me, and says, "Hmm. Still alive?"

"You're not going to kill me just yet, Zero. **Whirlwind**!" I summon winds around me. "I die when I say so!"

"But you must be exhausted from both my attack and your lightning. How long can you keep this up?" He's right. Even now, I feel exhausted, but I can still push through it!

"Does that matter? Right now, all that matters is that I have to defeat you!" I shout.

"Oh really? I'm not sure how long your friends can survive my **Void mist.**"

"Void mist?" I ask.

"My dark form summons it from the deepest depths of chaos. Eventually, it consumes everything of creation." I look at my teammates in the void mist. Damn, if that's the case, I need to get them all out quickly! "Well then. I just have to beat you before that happens!" I shout out, "**Hailstorm**!" It's hard for me to summon something like that in this forest, but it's still possible! Snow begins to fall, and as the temperature falls, snow turns to hail and it strikes Zero harshly!  
>"<strong>Hack: Fire-!<strong>" Two fireballs appears in both of his hands, and as my hail pelts him even more, he crushes them, and the flame surrounds his body! "**Shield**!" The fire melts the hail, and its turn to mere rain. I quickly say, "**Whirlwind**!" and summon the winds around Zero, and his flames are blown out. "You already tried that! **Hack: Nuker!**" And my winds fade away. "Not really creative, are you Michael?"

"Oh really?" I say.

"What?" And Zero looks around, and realizes what I have done. "You..."

"Yeah. I made sure your mist couldn't harm anyone!" The void mist was blown away from my friends, and while it still surrounds Zero, it can't reach them now, since I moved them away using my winds! Even now, they're slowly recovering and getting up. "Hmm. Clever, but I'm not done yet!" Zero shouts.

"Oh yeah?" Via shouts, already back on her feet. "Zero, I don't know what happened to you, but we're going to knock sense back into you!"

"Right!" Scott says, holding his bow up. "Look pal, we're a team! And teams are supposed to work together, but if you fight us, you're going down!"

"Zero. We still trust that you will stop this, because we believe that you don't really want to fight us!" Hazel continued.

"Zero. You can't fight us. We're all one team!" Jones shouts.

"Humph. The old Zero is gone-" Suddenly, Zero collapses on the ground, screaming! "ARGHHHHH! NO! IMPOSSIBLE!" He goes into a spasm, shaking over and over! "...Guys?" He weakly says, and suddenly starts shouting again, "NO! ARGH!"

"...Zero?" Shadow says worryingly. Wait. Is Shadow showing concern for someone? That's the first time in weeks.

"Run... run while you still can! This will be over soon- NO! IT WILL NEVER BE OVER!"

"Guys, Zero's still in there!" Jaila exclaims.

"Overwhelming power pushed him over the edge. Now, we must bring him back up!" Shadow says.

"Right!" Everyone replies.

"It's isn't going to be that simple..." Zero mutters. We all turn towards him.

"I admit. That was... unexpected, but it will never happen again. Never." It sounds as if he was almost reassuring himself. "I will kill you all, and then I will stay here forever."

"Come on. You think you can kill us?" Jade says.

"I don't think. I know so. **Hack: Fireball!**" Zero fires a fireball straight at Amber! Suddenly, Via... teleports with a purple flash to Amber, teleports her away, and Jade takes her place, raising her iron sword, and hits the fireball right back at him! Zero grabs the fireball, and reflects it up into the sky. It explodes above him, and Jones and Scott quickly race towards Zero, raising both their swords, and striking at Zero at the same time. Zero jumps above their swords, and roundhouse kicks Jones and Scott. They both fall down onto the ground, and Shadow and Jade jump over them and begin to attack Zero with their swords, but he quickly deflects them both. Jade and Shadow begin striking Zero at the same time, simultaneously hitting him with their swords, but Zero just keeps catching their attacks! Zero suddenly shouts, "**Hack: Forcefield!**" And both of them go flying! "You cannot match my power." Zero states.

"**Amp: Strength!**" Jaila shouts. And I feel even more powerful than I felt before. "Via, quickly, lets attack!" I shout.

"Right!"

Via reveals a pair of daggers from her sleeves, and I get my iron sword out from my back, and we both charge at Zero. Zero just stares at us, and we both strike at him at the same time, but Zero blocks both blades with just his bare hands. And leaps above us, palms facing at us. "**Hack: Fire-**" A fireball appears in his hands, but suddenly, he gets hit by arrows! I turn around, and see Jaila and Amber shooting arrows at Zero with a quick rate. Zero just grimaces, and flies backwards and pulls out the arrows. "**Hack: Regen!** Huh. So... do I have to get serious?" he says, healing his wounds.

"What?" I shout. "What do you mean?"

"Ha, ha, ha. RAUGH!" Suddenly, his void mist surges upwards, in an extremely powerful rate! I feel great power surging from him. His power... my god! I begin trembling... with fear... I turn, and I see Via... shaking as well! "What... what are you?" I hear Amber shakily say.

"I... am... darkness." Zero white eyes stare at me, and I feel like they're staring into my soul, seeing all of my fears. "...How?" I stammer. Zero smirks.

"Now, you are the last person standing. What a shame. **Hack: Explosion!**" Suddenly, his darkness gathers inwards, in a concentrated form, and then explodes outwards! It hits me and Via, her hair flying back, and as I look behind I see Jaila and Amber being consume by Zero's shadows. My vision is slowly being covered by darkness... as my vision slowly turns to black, but I hear a voice in the shadows. "Zero... stop... please."

P.O.V: Shadow

As I weakly stand up, Zero turns to face me. Zero... you're still in there. "Huh. Shadow, you're still standing. He, hah, hah."

"Stop this madness. You can control the darkness. Come on, Zero." I say weakly.

"Are you kidding? Don't make me laugh." Zero reply.

"Zero, please stop!"

"Are you serious? You are insignificant to me, so I may as well just kill you."

"Zero, you can't do this!"

"Really, you can't do this? Is that all you have to say?"

"Please, I'm begging you!"

"Enough of this." He summons a diamond sword out from the air, and charges me. I quickly hold up my iron sword and block his swing, but when it hit, I dropped my sword, and I collapse on the ground. I'm out of energy, and I can't even stand up. "Is this all you have. I'm disappointed. I expected you to have some sort of secret weapon."

"Hah... Zero. Come on... stop this." I look up at him, on my back, and he looms over me, hefting his diamond sword and pointing it at me.

Preparing to stab me with it.

"...Zero... please."

"Humph. Pleading for your life?"

"No... I'm not pleading for my life."

"Then what?"

"For everyone else. Please, don't hurt your own friends. Just kill me instead."

"Huh. Fine. I just kill you, then everyone else later. Your pleading can't help them."

"Come on... Zero... please..."

"Hmm... Nah."

And his sword stabs down...

To miss me by just an inch.

I turn to look at the sword, and back up to Zero. His face grimaces in pain, as if something was eating him from the inside. "ARRGGH! NO!" And his white eyes... turn back to his usual color for a second. Suddenly, they turn back white, then back to normal. "Stop... this... RIGHT NOW!" His dark mist surges upwards...

And disappears.

I look into his face again. His white eyes flash for a few seconds... then into electric blue.

I feel drops falling into my face.

I look up into Zero's eyes, and I see them swelling in tears.

"Shadow... I'm so sorry..." He begins sobbing uncontrollably. "I knew what I was doing, but I couldn't control myself!"

"Zero... It's alright." I reach up to hug him. "You didn't mean to do it. I knew that. I forgive you. We all do."

Around us, everyone's smiling, back on his or her feet.

Zero continues to cry. "Sniff... thank you..."

AN: FINALLY! MY GOD I DIDN'T UPLOAD IN SUCH A LONG TIME!

Zero: I do hope that you're ready for your punishment!

AN: Wait... Zero! I'm bloody talking to the audience!

Zero: You didn't upload in such a long time! Also, you attacked us with TNT!

AN: Ah! Don't hit me with a bloody hack!

Zero: **Hack: Fireball!**

AN: (Goes flying from explosion.)

Zero: See you guys next time!


	19. Chapter 19: Team stories

Chapter 19: Team stories

AN: Just to clarify, these characters are **not** cubic. They look like us.

POV: Zero

After that event in the forest, I helped everyone get back to the faction. Everyone still all right, no serious wounds whatsoever. I still can't believe what happened. I wish I could have stopped it, but... everyone... they still forgave me. Amazing.

I learnt something from that experience. Friends, teammates, they will help you anyway they can. We need them to help each other, to pick each other up in case one of us falls down.

I asked Anna about what happened. She says that I overloaded on energy, and because I was focused on containing it, a... darker... personality emerged from the pain of holding it in. But, my friends brought me back.

A few days later, we were supposed to get to the training hall again. Shadow wants all of us there.

"Oh, so you're here, huh, Zero?"

"You too, Scott?"

"Yeah. I wonder what this meeting is about?"

"Same. Let's go find out, eh?"

We both go through the doors.

To open to Via and Jade fighting each other with determined expressions on their faces.

Via flies up and shoots straight at Jade with her bow, but Jade slices at the arrows with her sword, and they fall apart. Via dives straight at Jade, but Jade just jumps up, and kicks at Via. Via flies away, and Jade begins to chase after her.

"Er... Can someone explain what's going on?" I ask.

"Oh, you guys are here." Holly replies.

"You two can stop fighting now. Everyone's here." Shadow says.

"It was just getting started too!" Jade complains.

"Anyway... You guys have completed the training. It's been a month now. Right now, you guys now have to get... jobs."

"Wait... what?" Jack shouts. Really? Jobs? After all we went through?

"Or... you can form a team."

"A team?" Jones asks.

"Basically, there are some groups that do requests. Citizens sometimes ask for help. Some of them are ask for getting rare stuff for them. Other asks for help about dark factions."

"Dark factions?" Amber inquires.

"They are factions that take to a life of crime. They steal from the other bigger factions. They are normally small, but they are plenty. So, teams from all of the ten main factions usually help handling with them."

"Wait, there are other factions?" I ask.

"Zero, I forgot that you're new. Yeah, there are other factions, but right now, there's not enough time to talk about them all."

"Also, Shadow, I do believe you have some explaining to do." Via says.

Shadow signs. "I hoped that I didn't need to do this. Let me explain. I was on a mission: to infiltrate The Empire."

**Flashback: Shadow POV**

Humph. The guards are not that bright. I easily can hide away from a thousand of them.

I slowly sneak up to the archives. My mission was to find any information about The Empire's plans, activities, forces, and any weaknesses.

I find what I wanted, so I grab it to deliver to the faction later. But... then I hear a scream.

I turn around, but I see no one there. But, I notice an iron door. I hear another scream. It's coming from that door!

"AHH! PLEASE, STOP!"

I quickly peak through the door. I see a girl with blond hair and green eyes. Wires connect her to some sort of redstone machine, sending electric shocks to her. "SOMEONE, PLEASE... STOP IT!" The machine stops... and she begins panting. Suddenly, the machine starts again. "AHH!"

I can't do anything... if I release someone, they would raise the defenses. I turn to leave, but then...

"ARGHHH!" I hear even more voices. I turn back, and I see two more people, one in a tube filled with some sort of liquid and another with needles being injected into his body. Oh Notch...

I can't do anything... but...

"Damn it."

**Flashback end.**

"I would have saved them all, but I could only rescue three of them. That was Jaila, Michael, and Jade. But, as we were going out of the city..."

**Flashback: Shadow POV**

"Hey. Come on, don't lag behind!" I shout.

"But, hang on. Look at them." Jaila says. I turn to see what Jaila was talking about. I see five people running, soldiers chasing them. "Get back here, you scoundrels!" one of them shouts.

"Can't we help them?"

"No. We're best not to get any attention."

"But, Shadow..."

"It was hard enough to get you guys out!" But then I hear another soldier shout,

"You guys are the next lucky contestants to partake in the experiments of the king! Feel gratitude that criminals like you can help the king!"

I feel anger, and I turn around to look at everyone else... and I see that they are angry as well. "Fine. Stay here, and get them out of here when I attack."

I walk up to the soldiers and their prey. "Please... just leave us alone!" One of them shouts.

"Come on, go quietly!" The soldiers command.

"Excuse me?" I tap one of the soldiers shoulder.

"What?" He turns to me.

And I punch him directly in the face, knocking him out.

"Hey! What are you doing, lady?" Another guard asks. I just knock him out as well, and grabbing my sword, the rest of the soldiers finally noticed that someone was knocking them out, one by one. As they turn to me, I quickly get out my sword and begin fighting each and every one of them. I see in the corner of my eye Jaila, Jade, and Michael quickly getting the chased people out of the way, and as they flee, I quickly run in the opposite direction. As the soldiers chase me I quickly grab one of my invisibility potions and drink it as I run. I quickly go down a side path and the rest of the soldiers run past it, stupidly.

As I walk back to everyone else, the quick invisibility potion wore off. But when I got back to the others...

"Come on, we have to go."

"What about them?"

"We can't bring them with us."

"Why not, Shadow?"

"Because they are a potential risk!"

"And so are we! We all are human as well! We don't deserve to be running in the streets!"

"Shadow, just let them join the faction!"

"But..."

"No but's Shadow!"

"May I remind you who rescued you from the king?"

"Well, let's do some more rescuing!"

"No! It was risky enough rescuing you all! Even the fight from before will soon gets to the ears of the king!"

"Well, let's at least invite them to the faction, Shadow."

"...Fine. But you all are responsible for each other."

"Don't worry. We all know how to take care of each other."

**Flashback end**

"So, I saved Jaila, Jade, and Michael from the experiments, and also saved Holly, Jack, Jones, Scott, and Amber from the soldiers of The Empire." Shadow ends.

"Whoa. I didn't realize that you guys were from The Empire." Hazel states.

"Yeah. Shadow saved us from those sick experiments." Michael replies.

"Well, hang on. What about Zero and Via?" Scott asks.

"Ah. Via, Zero, are you okay about sharing your stories?" Shadow says to us.

"... All right." Via mutters.

"Yeah, I'm okay about it!" I say cheerfully.

"Zero, let me go first and get it over with." Via quietly says.

"Okay, then."

"Right... I loved The Empire... once."

**Flashback: Via**

I used to live in a small cabin, with my parents and my older brother, on the edge of the Empire in the forests. I loved being an archer, and my mom taught me the skills as well as dagger-play and gave me my bow, Nyx, as well as my daggers, Araetemes and Caras. My dad was a miner, but one day, The Empire recruited my brother as a Seeker. His job was to hunt... runaways, people fleeing to the factions, as well as trying to find the factions themselves. When I turned 12, the King personally walked up to the front door of our cabin.

"Hello?" My mom said at the front door. I was in the living room, practicing with my bow and daggers. Suddenly, I heard her calling for me. "Via? There's someone here to see you." I turned Nyx back into my silver moon necklace, and walked to the front door...

To see the King himself.

I immediately bowed down, shocked. I'm surprised that the King himself came out all this way to just to meet us! Suddenly, I thought, "Oh no...is my brother..."

As if he read my thoughts, the King said, "Your brother isn't dead, child. I'm looking for you. I want you to have a job at my castle. And don't worry; it is a very high rank. But it has a lot of responsibility." I was shocked out of my mind.

I turn to my mother, and she says, "It's your choice, Via." I didn't noticed at the time, but... looking back, her eyes seemed to say, "Please, don't go, Via, for Notch's sake." I turn back to the King, my thoughts racing.

I think, "Maybe, I will be put with my brother, to take down the rebellious factions! Then, I can show him how much I improved..." I open my mouth, "What is the job about, my King?"

"It is a very high responsibility. To be a part of the Seekers." My own wishes seemed to come true at that point.

I quickly say, "I will go, my King."

How wrong I was.

-Timeskip-

After entering the castle, I marvel at its size and it's majesty. Is this what my brother sees every time he walks in?

The King tells me to follow him, and I follow him room after room, stair after stair, until we reach what I think must be the basement of the castle. It's secured with an iron door.

"My child, please don't be afraid. Every Seeker walks through this door. It's is the door to their halls after all." The King says. Wouldn't it be a surprise to my brother if I walked through for him to see me!

"You have to go in first, I insist." The King says. Without hesitation, I walk through the iron door. As soon as I went through, I notice that it's pitch black. I quickly turn around, about to shout that this isn't the Seeker hall...

Only to find the door shut.

I quickly feel for the door, and begin to pound on it, shouting, "Let me out!" I begin to be afraid. What was the King doing? I'm supposed to be with the seekers, not in some dark room! What was he planning?

I would find that out soon enough.

Suddenly, I begin to choke. I can barely breath. I panic even more! "I'm suffocating!" I think. I quickly try to feel around the room, for a way out of this nightmare! But, before I know it, I fall to the ground, my eyelids heavy. The only thing I remember before passing away was a bright light, and a voice, saying, "Another one for the labs."

-Timeskip-

I slowly wake up. I feel like I been stung with needles all over my body. I kneel up, slowly, because I feel painful with every movement, especially the back. Ow, it hurts even more! "Where the heck am I?" I mutter. I look around, and see that I'm in a prison cell, with a single torch. There are bars all around me, leaving me no cover whatsoever, and that's it. No bed, chair, toilet, anything! There's barely enough room to swing a creeper in here. I slowly begin to try to stand up, but I feel a sharp tug in my wrists. I look down, to see that I'm chained at the wrist to the cobblestone underneath me. I try tugging at the chains, but it's useless.

I suddenly remember that the King brought me here, to be a Seeker... but...

"Oh Notch..." I got gassed! Why? Why would I get gassed by the King himself, I didn't do anything wrong!

Suddenly, I feel the pain in my back again! "Ahh!" I shout in pain. When the pain goes away, I, with some difficulty because of the chains, begin to feel at my back, to see what the heck it was.

I feel something... feathery. And I feel like someone was touching something... on my back. I bring my hand back with shock. Afraid what I was going to look at, I turn my head.

In the light, I see a feathery, black, wing.

I feel like screaming. I turn the other way, and see another wing. I realize that...

I

Have

Wings.

I begin shaking with shock, worry, and terror. How is this even possible?

Then, someone walks outside my cell door. I turn my head, to see the head of science in The Empire.

"...What...what happened to me?" I stammer.

The scientist replies without a passing glance, "We tried to mix your human DNA with 2% avian, and 3% ender. It was successful, but of course, for some reason, your ender abilities are still impossible to bring out. We need to fuse your body with ender energy, for your other abilities to activate."

I notice that outside the cell, a small dashboard. I begin to breathe uncontrollably, in fear of what was to happen. "Wait! The King asked me to come here to be a Seeker!" I shout in panic.

The scientist promptly replied, "He lied." And he pulled a lever.

Purple energy arched from the chains, and hit my body with devastating pain! I scream, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

-Timeskip-

Has it been a month? I can't even remember anymore... my mind is lost. It hurts. I feel pain for so... long. Where am I? How did I get here?

Who am I?

I look down at my moon necklace. It seems to be the only thing I have now that is important to me.

Then, the door opens again. I shrink in fear. While some people have been nice to me, feeding me, giving me water, this man, among others... is the worst. It's... Pain. My only name for him now. I can't remember who he was. All I know is that every time he is here, the pain starts again. I feel afraid of the dark purple that comes up my chains. He goes to his board, and flicks something. And the dark purple comes for me again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I scream.

All the while, Pain begins talking. "So, I wonder how you are, Via?" He says. I keep screaming in pain. Pain sighs. "It seems that your Ender powers haven't been developing, no matter what. What a shame." He speaks like this, even though he been delivering pain to me after all this time! I look down at my necklace, tears streaming from my eyes. And I remember something as I scream.

**Flashback**

I remember being six.

"Via, please come here. I got something to show you!" My mom calls.

"Coming mom!" And I run out from my room, to see my mom holding a silver moon necklace. "Wow, that's pretty! Is that yours, mom?"

"Yes, but not anymore. I want to give it to you."

"Really! Wow!" I say. My mom gives it to me.  
>"Now, Via, this necklace is very precious to me. Imagine it being a bow." I think it being a bow, and it turns to one in my hands!<p>

"Wow! A real bow!"

"Now Via, be careful. It is still a necklace, and it's very precious to me, as it saved my life countless times. But I want to give it to you, so it's protection passes on to you."

"Really! Mom... you are the best mom in the world! I love you so much!"

"I love you more! But let's practice you on that bow, I can teach you!"

"Really! I can't wait to be as good as you! I'm wanna learn right now!"

**Flashback end.**

My mom. My dad. My brother. I remember. I remember them all.

My name is Via.

"What the... what is going on! There is some sort of reaction in the experiment!"

"AAAAAAHHHHH" I scream, focusing on getting out of here, next to the scientist.

"Soldiers, I need back up right..."

"AH!" And with that, I feel my body disappear, and I open my eyes to a purple world. I noticed that my chains weren't restricting me anymore. Like solid mass here is nothing. I easily faze through my chains, walk to the man outside, and will myself back to the world. I see the world go back to its usual color, and the scientist turning around. I punch him in the face, and he goes flying into the wall. Turning and quickly find a door, I run down the corridor, and see a bunch of guards charging at me. Seeing a window to my right, I kick it, shattering it, and I dive through the broken glass, and spread my wings. It's night, so the guards can't shoot me, and fly towards my home. Mum, Dad, Brother, I'm coming!

-Timeskip-

I see something red on the ground. I dive towards it, because it's right where my home is!

Hitting the ground, I stumble, not used to my wings just yet. Getting up, I open my eyes to...

Ash.

Everything was burnt down. It looked like it was recent. And I see my brother and my mother. My dad was on the ground. It looks like they were arguing. And then...

My brother stabs my mom through the chest.

I scream. I feel pain like never before. And my brother turns looking at me. I see the dead bodies of my parents, my brother holding the bloody sword. I feel something broke in my chest. I run towards my parents and hold them, hugging them, but... no response. I feel like crying. But my tears are not sliding down my cheeks. I try to cry, but it's impossible for me. Nothing can describe the pain that I feel.

I feel someone holding me by the shoulder, and I turn around. I see my brother. And I feel furious. "HOW COULD YOU?" I scream in fury. "THEY ARE OUR PARENTS! YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT TO THEM!"

He just stares at me. And says, "Via Canadian, you are wanted at the cells of The Empire." I stare at him. How could he say that, after what happened? I stare at him even more, and he lunges at me. But I take to the air. "Brother, why?" I say. He just stares at me, and begins to chase me.

I turn my back away from him, and begin to fly away.

-Timeskip-

I had no food left. The only things I had were my weapons, and after running for weeks, I find myself cornered with all of these mobs hissing at me. I fold my wings behind my back, to make myself a smaller target. Those skeletons can shoot really well. I barely have enough energy to stand, but I raise my bow, and prepare to fire. "Damn you all..." I mutter.

Then suddenly, an arrow impales a creeper. And another impales a zombie, another a skeleton. Soon, the entire mob force was being held back. I turn around to see my savior. It was a teen girl, with blond hair and blue eyes. I see her carrying a bow. She says, "Why are you here?"

"...Running away." I reply weakly.

"From what?" She asks.

"...The Empire..." And I collapse.

When I came to, I find myself with a chicken in my hand; I turn to see the girl eating some bread. "Eat up. You have a long way to go."

I ask her, "Where are you taking me?"

"To a safe haven from The Empire. The faction I'm in. The name's Shadow, by the way."

-Timeskip-

_"__How can she help us?"_

_"__Ender, she is really good in combat. Also, she knows The Empire firsthand."_

_"__Exactly! She could be a spy, Shadow!"_

_"__We heard the evidence on both sides. All in favor of her joining this faction?"_

_Five hands rise up._

_"__All against?"_

_Four hands rises up._

_"__Motion carried. Via Canadian, you are allowed to become a part of this faction."_

_"__Thank you."_

_..._

_"__Shadow. Thank you for not telling them about my... abilities."_

_"__I had to tell X, but she doesn't mind. But please don't reveal them to other people, Via."_

_"__Don't worry. I won't."_

**Flashback end. POV: Zero**

Via finishes telling us her past. We all are silent. Then, I begin to say, "Via... I'm so-"

"Don't say it." Via interrupts. "I suffered pretty much what everyone else here suffered through."

"But your own brother..." Holly mutters.

"The only thing that was keeping me going was revenge against The Empire. But, when I heard about the respawning from Shadow, I had, and still do, hope. My parents are still alive. I just need to find them, and rescue them from The Empire." Via replies

"Via. We all are going to help you." Scott says.

"Don't worry. I know how to deal with it. My parents are still alive. I can feel it." Via says. "But, Zero. What about your story? What's your history?"

I say, "To be perfectly honest, I can't remember anything."

Since Jones was drinking some water at the time, he spits it out, shouting, "What!"

"Yeah. My mind is a blank. I just woke up in the middle of the forest, finding that I had these powers, and later found Shadow, who led me to this faction."

"Really?" Jade says.

Jaila stares at me with disappointment. Does she know something?

"Yep! I can't remember anything before that forest!" I say.

"I still processing about Via..." Anna says to me quietly.

"I know. It's shocking, isn't it?" I think to her.

"You can't remember anything. Huh." Via says.

"Well... Shadow? About that team?" I say.

"Oh. Well, you guys can form a team, which, to be perfectly honest, I suggest. More dark factions are bothering us, and we need to take care of them. I think you all can do it."

"Really? Us ten, form a team?" Michael says.

"Why not?"

"Well, we need a team name!" Holly exclaims.

"Do we?" Via ask.

"Well yeah, of course?"

"What about Team Jack?" Jack suggests.  
>"NO!" We all shout at him.<p>

"Team Night?" Scott suggests.

"No, we need something that stands for all of us." Michael says.

"What about..." I begin.

-AN-

AN: And that is now your decision! Review what you think should be the team name of the team! I will pick which once I think is the best! See you guys next time!

Also, on a serious note: My uploading speed will be decreased dramatically, so, you guys will probably see me one a week, unless I have good timing and focus.

To everyone who did send me the characters, hope you like their history.


	20. Chapter 20: On the deal of selling MC

AN: Below are my thoughts on the Microsoft owning Minecraft. I am NOT stopping writing. I recovered from that blow, since I saw the community still reading this fanfic. You guys inspired me to write again. I nearly decided to not write anymore.

Be glad that you achieved that.

AN: Hello there. You guys may be wondering where's the next chapter.

Let me explain.

Recently, Notch made a deal with Microsoft in selling Minecraft and Mojang for about 2.5 billion dollars. Notch said that a part of the reason was the stress of trying to run Mojang and Minecraft, and it was... too much for him.

I completely understand why he did that. But... by doing that, I felt the spark of Minecraft...

Leave.

Minecraft was a game designed by individual developers. They, on their own, managed to create a game, which became incredibly famous. It had originality, creativeness.

But... in Microsoft hands, I don't think it would have that uniqueness anymore. It became one of my most favorite games... to just another game.

And now... I don't know if I can keep writing 'The Hacker' anymore.

Minecraft was unique because you can create anything of your imagination. Sure, that concept is apparently supposed to continue in Microsoft's hands, but I'm not sure if I can believe that. I felt comfort with it in Mojang's hands, and it felt like it's going to grow even more.

In Microsoft's, I feel like that they are going to exploit it for more money than ever before. Major companies are all the same. And that could mean paying them for a server program, a rent of accounts, increase of money needed to buy, maybe even paying to just mine a certain block! (While extreme, who knows.)

And that just, well, doesn't feel right.

Mojang was an original company because it grew from almost nothing. It didn't want to make major money; it wanted to just create games.

Microsoft wants to make money. And now, I feel like I can't play Minecraft anymore.

Major changes will happen with Minecraft in Microsoft's hands, and not all of them are going to be good changes.

Who knows? Maybe Minecraft will come back into the hands of an individual, small company who wants to just make games. Maybe Microsoft will continue that spark.

For a while, I'm not writing, because I just can't right now. Not with the possibility of the imagination going. Let Notch know what I think about his plan. Spread the word.

iBoy.

AN: I am still writing! Don't worry guys!


	21. Chapter 21: Runaways

Chapter 21: Runaways

AN: And I am an idiot. Most of you guys must be thinking who the hell is Hazel. Well, I just noticed that and I really need to clarify with you guys that Hazel is (accidentally) Holly. I mixed up their names a couple of times, and just to clarify, Hazel is not in this fanfic. I fixed it now. Sorry for the mixup!

-Chapter 21-

POV: Michael

As we begin talking about team names, I think back to when I was in the Empire...

**Flashback**

The war between the corrupted council member and the remaining council members was devastating. It was the war that took my parents in the first place, before respawning occurred. I was young then. All I remember is that I was taken to an orphanage.

My life there was... horrible. I just couldn't stand it. Being bullied often, just because.

"Hey you! What the heck are you doing?"

"Just give us your food, we're hungry as hell!"

"I'm not sure if you want anything from him. It's sure to be ruined because he had his hands on it!"

"Please, just leave me alone!"

"Or else what?"

"Please, just stop! That's my food!"

"Meh, you call this food!"

"Please, just-"

"Ah!"

Then that day happened. I lived at the orphanage for twelve, thirteen years. I'm guessing that I was about sixteen then.

"The... King himself... wants to take in Michael?"

"Yes. He thinks that he will be... interesting."

"...All right."

The King took me in. When I got told the news, I thought that I was going to somewhere better.

I was wrong.

As soon as I got there, at first, they began to educate me. They actually helped me a lot. But then, one day they took me to the labs.

I don't want to remember it... that devastating experience. I would have lost my mind...

If it wasn't for Shadow.

**Flashback end. POV: Scott**

Living on the street of the Empire was... harsh. My parents got captured because their loyalties towards the factions. They were helping people escape the Empire.

When the guards came for them, I barely managed to escape with my life. I hid away from the soldiers. But my life on the streets... I don't know if I actually should have just gone with them.

The streets were unforgiving. You try to make friends, but you don't know if they will just rob you instead. You couldn't trust anyone. Never. The only person you can trust was yourself.

But... I met Jack, Jones, Amber and Holly.

**Flashback**

"Who the hell are you?" I ask. This random girl just crawls into my temp base. It's in the back of the ally, but it'll work. But just when I was setting it up, she just stumbles in.

I quickly check him for items. She's probably doesn't have anything useful. But then... she moans.

I look at him and see that she's awake. What?

"Please... help me..."  
>"Why? What the heck can you do for me?"<p>

"Look, I help you with surviving. I swear, if you take me in, I will help you all the time."

"...Why should I trust you?"

"Please... I won't turn my back on you."

"...What's your name?"  
>"...Holly."<p>

I think of killing her. She can't do anything about it, and she will be another problem.

But I can't just kill her mercilessly.

I sign. I'm going to kill myself by doing this.

I turn back to my remaining food scrapes. "Don't worry. Just don't betray me."

-Timeskip-

"Come on! Let Amber come, she's a friend of mine!"

"You do know how much food we have? We can't support three people, Hazel!"

"She needs help! She's can't survive in this city!"

"...Fine. Bring your friend here, but she has to help as well."

"Fine. Let me-"

_Crash_

"What was that?"

"Quick, we have to hide." I whisper.

"Right." We both find our hiding places, and get ready to fight or flight.

"Oh man!" We hear a shout. "I didn't meant to hit that!"  
>"Would you be quiet already? We don't know what's in here."<p>

"Oh, come on, Jack! Why the hell are we here?"

"Because our last shelter was compromised, Jones! For some reason, the soldiers are taking every homeless from the streets, and we don't even know why!"

"They said that it was good for everyone."

"Yeesh, like the Empire cares about us! Anyway, let's just stay here for the night."

As they both pass by Holly, I nod to her. We jump them both, and we all went down in a tumble of fists, me against this Jack guy, and Holly against Jones. Jack managed to get out from me, and I quickly turn to Holly.

"Holly quick, back away!"

"Right!"

We both turn towards our opponents and prepared to fight again. These guys can't do anything to us!

"Wait! Hang on." Jones shouts. "We're just looking for shelter! Just... please!"

"And why the hell would we let you stay here!"

"Because we can help you survive as well!"

"And what makes you believe that we can trust you!"

Suddenly, I hear a growling sound. I look around, confused. Then, I look at Jones again. I hear the growling sound again.

"Also... we're really hungry, you have any spare food?" he asks.

"...Seriously?" I respond.

"Scott? Can I talk to you for a bit?" Holly whispers.

"Okay..." I walk in closer to her.

"Look. If we have more people, we'll be able to have better chance at survival."  
>"Holly, you can't be serious. They'll betray us!"<p>

"Look. They know that something's going on. Apparently, the Empire is taking people off the streets. We need to know what they know, so why not?"

"...If they steal anything... I'm going to kill them."

"You don't have to be so harsh."

-Timeskip-

"Jones, I'm going to kill you!" I shout.

"Come on, we needed the food!" he replies.

"But you got the damn soldiers after us now!" I shout back ferocity, as we all run as fast as our legs can handle.

"Jones, you could have at least have been quiet!" Amber shouts.

"I would have like to see you do better!"

"Please stop arguing, it's not going to help!" Holly moans.

"Come on! We need to get out of here!" Jack yells.

"You kids get back here!" The soldiers are right behind us! "Get back here, you scoundrels!"

'Er... no thanks." I mutter.

"Please... just leave us alone!" Holly yells.

"Come on, go quietly!" The soldiers command.

"Excuse me?" I hear someone ask.

"What?"

"Hey! What are you doing, lady?" I hear a scuffle behind me. Suddenly, three people quickly came up to us.

"Hey."

"Um... what the heck is going on?" I ask.

"Come with us. If you don't want to die." They turn around and ran. I quickly looked at the others, and after a few seconds, we all followed them.

**Flashback end.**

AN: And I'm back! Sorry for the short chapter! But I still have a lot of stuff to do in real life. Don't worry, there more chapters coming soon!


	22. Chapter 22: First mission!

Chapter 22: First mission!

-Chapter 22-

"Team Resilience?"

"Huh..."

"Actually..."

"That kind of fits us all..."

"So it's settled?" I ask.

"Yep! From now on, our team name is Resilience!"

"Right then. Since you picked your team name, here is your first request." Shadow says. "A faction member reported a group trashing the forest to the east of our faction, and setting up a camp. Possibly a dark faction, but nevertheless, they are unwanted in this area. You have to take care of them, since our other teams are away somewhere."

"What if they are friendlies?" Scott asks.

"If they are, contract me. But never let your guard down." Shadow states. "Remember, don't trust anyone outside of the fac."

"Right." Jade replies.

"Okay. You leave tomorrow."

"Hang on. What about you, Shadow?" I ask.

"I have duties in this faction, Zero. Please remember that I'm also a leader here."

"Okay..." I reply. "What time should we be here tomorrow?"

"Let it be 8:00 in the morning. The sun is up by then." Jones says.

"All right. See you guys tomorrow." I turn to leave, but Shadow suddenly shouts, "Where do you think you are going, Zero?"

I freeze and slowly turn my head. "Er... I was leaving?"

"Think that you could get out of training, huh? Get back here! You're doing another fighting course!"

"Oh man..." I walk back miserably. Needless to say, her training courses are as hard as hell itself!

-Timeskip-

I wake up slowly, refreshed for the day. We're supposed to be on a mission today, so right now, I feel good!

"Morning, sleepyhead." Anna appears.

"Morning. Anna. How're you?" I ask.

"Pretty sure that you know, since we're in the same body. Anyway, the time is 7:30. You have time to get ready."

"K. Thanks."

"..."  
>"..."<p>

"Still thinking about the others, huh." Anna questions.

"Yeah. I still can't believe that The Empire is that evil. I mean, who does that to living people?" I reply.

"It's unbelievable, but true."

"We have to stop them."

"I agree."

As I leave my house, I notice my journal. I began writing everything that happened a few weeks ago. After writing it yesterday, I still left it out on my desk. I put it away.

Because of my amnesia, I decided as soon as I came to this faction that I should write down everything, every thought and every action, everything about my life.

Though, there are some pretty embarrassing things in it, so I really hope that no one reads it!

As I walk out onto the street, I notice some sort of building across the busy pathways. Normally I would walk to the training hall by now, but as I look at the building, I see it has tubes popping out of the structure here and there, and a massive sign saying, "Science and magic galore! Get your tech and potions here!"

I decide to walk into the shop. As I stroll in, Anna pops up in my HUD, and asks "Any reason we're here?"

"It looked interesting. I wanted to see what it has to offer." I think.

As I walk in, I see potions, comms, small redstone machines and vast amounts of parts and bits. I notice a man scribbling on a board in the back, the board covered in equations. Some were too complex for me to understand, but one of them was surrounded in multiple circles, which read, "E=MC2."

I ask him, "What does that equation mean?"

He turns around, and immediately bumps into a box. He looks up at me, and says, "Who are you?"

"I'm living across the street. I just recently got here, like a month ago, maybe?"

"Ah. That would explain it. The name's Jason by the way." With white hair and blue eyes, he'll be easily recognizable in the street.

"Zero." I respond, shaking his hand. "And about the equation."

"Not normally a question you ask someone as soon as they meet you, is it?" He replies. "But anyway, the equation stands for energy."

"Energy?"

"What energy is equal to. Thanks to a scientist before me, he found this equation. E stands for energy. M stands for mass, C stands for speed of light, and you square that. This equation shows that a small number of mass, which is what an object weights if you didn't know, can equal a large amount of energy."

I take that into my mind. I note it in my systems, and after going over the board a little, I say, pointing to a different equation "Shouldn't that equation be equal to 5?" He turns around, looks at the equation I'm looking at, and after a few seconds, begin scribbling furiously while angrily muttering under his breath. As he mutters, I turn to leave.

"Can you tell me the entire purpose of that trip?" Anna asks sarcastically.

"I just wanted to see what was in there. And, I think I learned something that might be pretty useful in the future." I respond.

"What do you mean?"

"I tell you later."

"You know I can tell what you're thinking." And I feel her accessing my memories. "Oh... Zero... what the hell do you think you're doing with this!" She angrily shouts.

"Anna. That thought and the result is a last resort." I calmly reply.

"Zero. Never use that hack. Ever," she mutters furiously.

"I plan not to, and I hope that I will never use it. Anyway, we have to get to the team now."

"...Yes. By the way, you only have ten minutes left."

"What... ah no!" I quickly begin running as fast as I can to the training hall, of course, without using my hacks.

-Timeskip-

Bursting through the doors, I shout, "I'm here!"

Jack moans, "You finally arrived, Zero, we've been waiting forever!"

"Give him a break, Jack!" Via sighs.

"Anyway... please tell me I didn't miss anything important." I say.

"Well, we were just about to begin. But may I ask you where you have been?" Shadow asks.

"Er... nowhere important. Anyway, what's the mission?"

"Fine. Your first mission is to respond to a statement made by one of our scouters. They reported that there has been unusual activity in the north of our base, deep in the forest. We need someone to investigate, and since our other team is out already, that leaves you. I would like to give you more training, but since we have a tight schedule, I granted you all full team authorisation immediately. This means that you all do not have to listen to any army officials, except for the council members. As long as you don't abuse the power, you will stay as a full team for the rest of your time with the faction. You can say... that you're an elite team of members."

"Elite? I'm pretty sure that we aren't the best in this faction." Holly comments.

"Well, we did manage to survive Zero in a rampage." Via says dryly.

"Huh. Well, when you put it that way..." Jones mutters.

"Anyway, you're leaving today, at 8:15. The rest is up to you." Shadow continues.

"Wait a sec, no plan?" Scott asks.

"No, you're on your own. But you guys need to hide your powers. Use your own natural strength instead. That includes you, Zero."

"Right. So no flashy powers... can I use radar?" I ask cautiously.

"As long as it's not detectable... yes."

"Right! So let's go, guys!" I shout.

"Hang on, let us get our stuff first, Zero!" Jaila shouts at me.

"Okay... fine, just don't take too long please! I'm itching to go!"

"Zero, do you even have your stuff?" Amber asks.

"Well, yeah!" And I pop on my diamond armor from my inventory.

"...Where the hell did that come from." Michael mutters.

"Well, my inventory, of course."

"...Inventory?"

"Well, it's one of my augmentations. Jade, you do the same thing, right?"

"Well, yeah. Except that I can't summon food, and I have to carry it around. Which reminds me, I should go get some as well," she replies.

Jones excitedly shouts, "Can I take a look at that?"

"Well, it's kinda... attached to my body..."  
>"Don't worry, I only want to look at the design."<br>"...I'm... going to have to talk to you later."

"K!"

"Come on, guys, get you stuff!" I shout to everyone.

"Fine... just be patient, Zero..." Holly moans.

"Don't worry. I can wait." I reply.

Everyone quickly runs out of the door. I expect Shadow to leave with them, so I turn around to say goodbye...

But I see her in front of me.  
>"Dam- sorry, you scared the living nightmares out of me, Shadow!"<p>

"Oh. Sorry Zero, I just wanted to talk to you."  
>"Really? Okay Shadow, what do you want to talk about?"<br>"Well... I just want to apologize."

"For what?"

"For... being so cold to you during training."

"Oh. Don't worry about it, I already notice that you were annoyed about something."

"...Really?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, I completely forgive you. But, what were you annoyed about, anyway?"

"...Uh...an order from X?" She seems nervous for some strange reason... and is she... blushing?  
>"Oh. Well, it is your choice to follow it or not."<p>

Shadow stares at me for a few seconds seemly with shock. "...No one... ever disobeys an order from X."

"...Really? I thought that this faction was supposedly for freedom."

"Well, yeah... but usually X is right. X can make many decisions, and usually X's decisions are logical. So no one defies her. Don't take it wrong," She says quickly, "X is a good, if not great leader. X's choices are usually for the better of the faction. But before X came, we were struggling. With X's help and leadership, we established ourselves in this land."

"Huh... Shadow."

"Yeah?"

I reach over and grab her shoulders. I feel her stiffen, but I continue talking, "You can decide for yourself if you want. You are a person after all." And people deserve to make their own choices.

She looks at me for a few seconds, and says"...Well, yeah. That makes sense."

I smile, and let go.

Shadow looks at me strangely, "You know what, Zero?"

"What is it, Shadow?"

"You're-"

"Hey, we're back!" I hear Jack shout, and I look at the front door, to see everyone with their armor on and weapons ready.

"Shadow, I guess we should leave now." I tell her.

"...Y-yeah." She stammers.

"I guess I see you later."

"See you."

I smile, and run to my friends, yelling, "All right, let's do this!"

**-North Forest, Unknown location-**

_"__...What the hell do you mean someone saw you?"_

_"__Er... sir, I'm not sure, but I saw someone at the edge of our camp. I'm not sure though, so-"_

_"__SHUT IT! WHY DIDN'T YOU KILL HIM!"_

_"__But sir..."_

_"__RAUGH!"_

_"__Arg-"_

_"__...Hah...Hah...damn..."_

_"__...Hmm. Angry?"_

_"__No, I'm furious!"_

_"__Calm down, please. It wouldn't do anyone good if you destroy this dump."_

_"__...I guess so. Even so, that idiot may have attracted the attention of a faction."_

_"__Don't worry. We know how to take care of intruders... Sir Canadian."_

-AN-

Author looks at screen.

Zero walks in.

Zero: Um... excuse me...

_*Slam*_

Author slams his face on the keyboard.

Zero: 0_0

AN: I really had a bad week. Plus writers block.

Zero: ...Oh.

AN: But anyway, to the audience, I apologize for the massive delay. Right now, I have a lot to worry about. So, uploading will be slow. But don't worry; I'm trying as hard as I can. Also, the winner of the team name competition sent me the name "Resilience." It perfectly matched the characteristics of this team! They will always get up again, no matter what. Plus, funny enough, when I looked it up, a hack client also came up, so double points! However, they asked me not to reveal their profile name. Wonder why... Anyway, I need characters! However, they must be on the enemy's side so... if you're okay with that, send them to me! See you guys next time!


	23. Chapter 23: A warp through worlds

Chapter 23: A warp through worlds

AN: A not really necessary chapter, but since Zero is appearing in The Hack: Survival of the Fittest, I felt like there has to be some explanation. Also, this happened during one of the training sessions with the rest of the group. So, here you go!

-Chapter 23-

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" Damn, didn't realize that the seekers were really close! I quickly run from treetop to treetop, thanks to the parkcore practice, I can do it with ease. Quickly, but quietly jumping from tree to tree, I jump until I can't hear the seeker group anymore.

Shadow arranged for a competition, with hiders and seekers, in a small forest near our base. We all finally get to go out of the base for a little while. We, the hiders, all decided that we should separate to make it harder for the seekers to find us. Of course, Shadow wants us all back at the base by sunset, before mobs rising begins again, so we couldn't go too far.

Jumping to the next branch, I land on it, only to hear it creak below me. "Oh great." I say.

And with that, the branch breaks, bringing me down with it. I fell to the ground hard.

"Ow..." I say, and think to Anna "Are you okay?"

Anna replies with "Of course. But I'm detecting a... strange energy pattern from nearby. We need to check it out."

"Alright then. Where is it?" Suddenly, an arrow appears on my screen.

"Follow the..."

"Let me guess. Follow the arrow." And I follow it until I get to a clearing.

The clearing small, but it feels like I just went into a different world. It was barren, except for a strange object in the middle. The outside was black, with a white transparent, swirling inside. The black made an outline of the white, making some sort of portal. I begin to walk to it, but Anna suddenly says, "The energy source is coming from there. I wouldn't get close to it if I were you."

I reply with "What's the worst that can happen?" And I step closer to the portal.

Famous. Last. Words.

Suddenly, the portal begins sucking the area around it, and it begins to suck me in! I begin fighting the portal, trying to escape from it, but it keeps pulling on me!

"Hack: Speed!" And I run as fast as I can from the portal.

Only problem was, that the hack didn't work.

"Anna, what's happening!"

"I don't know! This isn't in my databanks! A hack has never failed before!"

"Hack: Flight!" And I begin to try to fly away from it, but it didn't work either!

"Make that two hacks!"

"What the heck is happening!" Anna cries out! "I can't control this!"

I slowly move closer to the portal, nearly touching it!

"Anna!"

"Zero, look out!"

And with that, I touch the portal, and it absorbs me in.

**What happens to Zero and Anna? To find out, read The Hack: Survival of the fittest!**

AN: To be able to understand what's happening, read the entire storyline. The Hacker will continue with a time skip anyway, but to find out what happens in that time skip, you have to read The Hack: Survival of the fittest. Also, it's a story in progress, so you may have to wait a while. If you just want to get to the chapter where Zero is in, go to chapter 49.


	24. Chapter 24: A new enemy

Chapter 24: A new enemy...

* * *

><p>-Chapter 24-<p>

"You. Got. To. Be Kidding. Me." I state.

In front of me, was a terrifying beast, with pure chaos and destruction in its eyes as it looks at me as if it was a fierce storm, preparing to destroy me as soon as I move closer, and as I inch slowly...

It lets out a neigh.

In other words, what I am looking at is a... horse.

"No. Freaking. Way. Am I. Riding. That...thing."

"Zero... are you scared of... horses?" Holly asks.

"...Yes..." I whisper. I can't move at all, as the horse turns it head towards me. "Please don't hurt me..." I mutter.

"...I... don't even know." Holly moans.

"Well. If only the king knew about your weakness. He'll have no trouble with you when he attacks with an army of horses." Via laughs.

"It's nothing to do with the horse... I... just..."

"Well? Just what?" Jack fires, popping up around the door to the stable.

"I really do not work well with horses. Why? I don't know."

"Come on, we don't have enough time to worry about your... Equinophobia." Amber says, riding on a horse in front of the stable as she says so. (AN Equinophobia: fear of horses)

"Fine. I just walk." I quickly say, and I turn around to get the hell out of here!

"Zero. You do realize that, without your powers, you will never keep up with us on foot, right?" Amber argues.  
>"At the very least, it's better than riding... that... thing."<p>

"...I give up. This guy is not riding a horse by cooperation." Amber moans.

"Well then. I guess we have to do it another way." I hear Via chuckle. I swiftly turn around, but it was too late. She puts her hand on my shoulder...

And we teleport.

I blink, and looking around, I see that I was higher than normal. "Um... guys?" I ask. I look down.

To see I was sitting on the saddle. Of. This. Horse.

"ARGH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!"I shout, panicking completely! My fear suddenly grows even stronger, and I can't help but struggle and wave my arms about.

"Zero, calm down!" Jade shouts into the stable, and she quickly rushes in.

"Help meeeeeee!" I yell, as the horse suddenly buckles, and throws me in the air. I prepare for a hard landing, when the horse kicked me right in stomach, and sending me flying through the wooden wall. I crash through, and land in a pile of boxes, burying me in them.

A few seconds later, a box in front of me slides out of the way, and I look up to see everyone staring through the wall at me in shock, and, well, laughing their heads off. I mutter "And that is why I do not work well with horses." But I couldn't help myself but laugh as well. This is pretty funny when you look at it for a few seconds.

We all just keep laughing, together. And I realize that we're not just a team, who just work together. We're family, who laugh with each other, cry for each other, and generally care for each other. That is a true team.

* * *

><p>-Timeskip-<p>

"Okay. Please explain... why the hell am I tied onto this horse?"  
>"Well... we need a way of keeping you on it, and for you to not... panic." Jade explains to me.<br>"Please, for the love of Notch and God, get me off this thing!" I yell.

"Sorry Zero, but no, unless you say the magic word." She replies, obviously enjoying my torment.

"...Please?"

"Sorry, but that's the wrong answer!"

"COME ON!"

Because we were riding into the forest, possibly into massive danger with explosions and fights to the death (typical stuff, considering what happened the last time we walked into the forest...), we were all wearing our battle armor. I was just wearing my usual clothes. Of course, I could easily put on my diamond armor in case of emergency. Since Jade can also summon armor, Jade was also wearing her usual green tank top and jeans, with a backpack.

The rest of Resilience was, however, wearing their battle armor.

Jones has interesting and unique redstone armor. He says that his armor can do a lot of things, but he refuses to show those abilities.

Michael has black iron armor, with a black iron sword. And yet... his armor's color seemed to shift from black to stormy gray to black again.

Jaila is wearing black leather armor, but with a green and white scarf, weirdly enough. When I asked her about it, she just holds it close to her and says nothing. She is also carrying an iron sword and bow.

Jack is wearing full iron armor, and is carrying an diamond axe, spinning it around as he rides on his horse.

Scott is still wearing his headphones around his neck, but he is in full chain armor, with his helmet in his backpack. He's carrying a gold sword and bow.

Amber is wearing a combination of leather and iron armor pieces. She is wearing leather pants and boots, but is also wearing iron chest plate and helmet, with extremely realistic red fiery designs on both. She says that it was her first armor, made in our faction, so she decided to create it with fire designs, because of her name. She's carrying a fiery sword, and a normal bow.

Holly is wearing full green leather armor, almost leaf-like in design. She's carrying a white bow and green sword.

Via is just wearing her usual blue and white-checkered hoodie and jean shorts, but with a chain chestplate over her hoodie.

"So, Zero. What were you talking about with Shadow?" Via questions.

"Hmm?"

"I heard you guys talking before we came in, but I couldn't hear exactly hear what you were saying. So... what were you guys talking about?" Via continues.

"Oh, nothing really."

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't nothing."

"Shadow just wanted to talk to me, that's all."

"Yeah... I definitely sure that was it. She just wanted to 'talk' to you."

"Via. What the heck are you suggesting." I state.

"Oh. Nothing." She replies with a wry smile.

"All right. Anna, can you explain what she's talking about?" I think.

Anna sighs. "I am not even going to explain. You have to figure it out yourself."

"Really?" I reply, annoyed. Though, when I think about it...

Truth be told, I... well... I-

"Um... Zero?"

"Huh?" I turn back to Via, and she looks at me weirdly.

"Zero... you were kinda spacing out there... and even blushing? What the heck were you doing?"

"Oh, just thinking." I respond quickly, turning down my head.

"...Really?" She ponders aloud. "You seemed to be mumbling something."

"Don't worry about it! I'm good!"

"Okay then..."

"Um... but can you tell me... WHEN THE HELL ARE WE GETTING THERE!" I shout.

"Hmm...It maybe a while..." She smirks.

"Argh..." I moan.

* * *

><p><strong>-North Forest, Unknown location-<strong>

_"__Are the preparations ready?"_

_"__Yes. I hope that you know what the hell you are doing."  
>"Really, Bajan Canadian, you don't trust me?"<em>

_"__**Don't call me by that name!**__"_

_"__..."_

_"__I left that name a long time ago. Because of the dishonor my __**sister**__ gave to me. My name is now... Revenge."_

_"__...Alright. Revenge. If the preparations are ready, then we can still savage this advance station."_

_"__Good."_

_"__The only problem is that of the scouts that any faction might have sent. I highly suggest of either moving away quickly, or..."_

_"__Or what, Temujin."  
>"Or... we can take 'care' of anyone who might find us."<em>

_"__...Fine. As long as you don't let anyone that would come here go back to his or her faction."_

* * *

><p><strong>-North Forest, Outskirts-<strong>

"Anna?" I think.

"Yes, Zero?"

"Back in the faction, I didn't detect Shadow. Why was the radar not working?"

"...You turned it off. When you turned off all hacks, well, we turned off all of them."

I mentally face-palm myself.

"Radar's on now, right?"  
>"Yes. I also turned on all of the sub hacks, such as No-fall, potion effects, etcetera."<p>

"Thank for your help, Anna. I wouldn't know what I do without you."

"You will probably be all over the place."

I smile at that. "Yeah, I would."

I turn to Scott.

"So... we're here, right?" I ask him.

"Well, yeah. This is the North Forest." Scott replies.

"Okay then... GET ME OFF THIS THING!" I shout angrily.

"Yeesh, Zero, you need to get used to your horse. You are riding her back to the faction after all." Holly states.

"...It's a her?" I reply.

"Yeah, didn't you know?"

"..."

"I knew." Anna suddenly pipes up.

"...Really..." I moan in my mind.

"Hey, what the heck?" Jones suddenly shouts up in the front.

"Jones, what's the matter?" Via shouts.

"Some sort of wooden barrier. Someone must have put it up there." He shouts back.

"Okay, let's see it." I quickly lead my horse up to the front.

"Okay... this is screaming that it's a trap." Anna speaks sarcastically.

"Let's see what it is, anyway." I think to Anna. "Could be the guys making all the ruckus here." And we all lead our horses up to Jones.

I immediately saw a short wooden wall, spanning across a few trees before ending.

"What the heck?" I mutter.

"What is this wall doing here?" Holly asks.

"This is just completely random. Could be the guys messing around here." Jade comments.

"This is most likely a trap as well. I mean, come on," Jaila shouts, "who puts a wooden wall in the middle of a forest?"

"Well, we just go out of our way to avoid this obvious trap. Should we just move further along the forest to avoid it?" Jones asks.

"No, why bother? Besides, they took their time to invite us in the first place!" Jack argues gleefully.

"Don't be stupid, Jack." Via moans. "You really think that we can handle an entire group of bad guys?"

"Well, all we know is that there was suspicious activity. Could be just two guys fooling around." Michael states.

"Right," Jaila agrees, "besides, where are they? We should be hearing them by now."

"Maybe they're in deeper?" Jones questions.

"Or... they're preparing to jump us right now." Scott brings up.

I quickly bring up my radar. But nothing's on it.

"No one around us." I say aloud. "Still..."

"Guys, lets move before anyone can get the jump on us," Amber suggests, "I highly suggest that we move along the deep part of the forest before going in."

Anna continues in my head, "That way, what ever that wooden wall purpose is for, we can avoid. Plus, it'll confuse whoever's in there, before they could make another hasty trap."

"Okay then. Let's go!" I shout out, and we all trot off.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Hmm. It seems that my plan went as expected."_

* * *

><p>Now, the wooden wall thing was out of sight. We all quickly change direction straight towards the middle of the forest. We should be able to find something or someone.<p>

"So, guys?" I ask. "Can you now untie me from my horse?"

"Heh, sure." Via replies, and she quickly cuts the ropes with her dagger in one swipe.

"Thanks, I guess..." I thank, and quickly jumped off. Thank Notch, God, and everything in the world that I am off my horse.

"So... why are you afraid of horses, anyway?"

"Um... I don't really remember. I have amnesia, remember?"

"Oh. Good point. So it could be from your childhood, maybe?"

"Maybe..." I ponder aloud. What was the reason for my fear of horses? Wasn't it-

Suddenly, a massive headache strikes, and my head's pounding, and grimacing, I fall down to the ground, holding my head.

"Zero!" Anna shouts.

"Dammit, I'm fine." I quickly think back. The headache is already receding. Why can't I remember anything of my childhood, or my parents, or, well, of my life? This is frustrating as hell. "Why is my memory...where is it..." I mutter. "Why can't I remember anything?"

Suddenly, an explosion echoes off the tree to the right.

"Finally, some action!" Jack whoop loudly.

"Really, Jack? You wanted battle in the first place?" Jaila moans.

"That has to be them, the guys messing around here!" Scott mutters loudly.

"Right then, I go on ahead!" Via shouts, and she quickly gets back on her horse, and in a flash, she rides off towards the explosion.

"Hey, Via, where're you going, come back before you're seen!" Jones mutters into his comm. We were wearing our comms since we left, and since they were all connected, I immediately hear Via's voice reply back.

"I'm going ahead. I'm going to see what that explosion was, and see who caused it, but don't worry; I'll be all right. I might be able to see their base as- ah!" She suddenly shouts in surprise, and then... nothing but static.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_And the knight is captured. Your move."_

* * *

><p>"Via! Via, respond!" Jaila shouts into her comm.<p>

"What happened to her?" Scott wonders loudly.

"Dammit!" I yell, "I'm going after her!"

"Wait! We need to think about this!" Amber cries out.

"No time, we all have to go!" Jade quickly shouts.

"Come on!" Jones shouts.

"R-Right!" Holly agrees.

"Charge!" Jack shouts, with a smirk on his face, eager for battle.

And we all run after Via, straight into the forest.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_Well, that was an more stupid move than I thought. Very well then."_

* * *

><p>We all quickly ran through the forest, different trees rushing around us. We dodge and serve around each and every tree, and quickly run into a clearing.<p>

I can't see anyone at all.

"Where is..." I mutter, and quickly look at my radar. Nothing.

Of course, that's when an arrow lands right between my feet.

"Quick, get out of the way!" I shout, jumping backwards. All of a sudden, people began jumping down from all of the trees around us, holding swords and bows.

"We're surrounded!" Jack cries out.

"Oh, really? We all haven't noticed!" Amber mutters sarcastically.

Why is my radar not working? It's should have detected these guys...

"Ahh!" I hear a familiar shout, and Via suddenly falls down from the sky. Wait... the sky?

"Via, were you using your... abilities?" I quickly ask. We can't use them in public and she should know that.

"No! What are you guys doing? Get out of here, now!" Via screams, slowly turning around to us.

Via... screaming?

"Via, what's going oh?" Scott asks.

Suddenly, something lands in front of Via, and Via turns towards it.

"...N-No... It can't be... not... him..." Via stammers, her face full with... fear.

"...Missed me, Via?" the guy with the black and red hoodie in front of her says, a wicked grin on his face.

"...Not you...brother..."

* * *

><p>AN: And I'm back! After not uploading for a month... I am sorry. I had to realize something. And now that I realized it, I going to upload now better than before! See you guys next time!<p> 


	25. Chapter 25: Reunion

Chapter 25: Reunion

-Chapter 25-

P.O.V: Zero

We stare at Via's brother in shock.

"...You know, I would expect you to introduce me, Via." He says. His red and black checkered hoodie was down, revealing his short brown hair waving in the wind, and sharp brown eyes stares at Via. Under his hoodie was grey long sleeve undershirt. He was wearing jeans, and white and red shoes. With his left hand, he was fiddling with a gold medallion around his neck, and in his right, holding a diamond sword, tip almost touching the floor.

His face was lit up by the torches around the clearing, a wicked smile on his face.

"...M-Mitch-" Via stammers.

"NO! Not anymore!" He shouts. "Because of you giving our family great dishonor, by running away, I have to restore it, by capturing you and taking down those who are hiding you from me! And I see that your friends are right behind you as well! Thank you, Temujin, you were right."

A man wearing a dark and light blue helmet walks up, his black cloak swirling around him in the wind. Only his black eyes can be seen. But they seemed to... pierce into my mind, and know what I'm thinking...

"My pleasure. I always like outwitting my opponents. Though, I might just say that they were not the hardest people to outsmart. They followed as planed, but they were idiotic enough to charge straight after their dear friend, Via."

I hear Amber behind me suddenly mutter, "Shadow, respond, this is a worse situation that we thought, the Empire soldiers are here." She pauses for a moment, and I prepare for any suggestions from Shadow through the comms. But...

"Shadow, respond!" She mutters again.

"You even didn't notice. We put redstone communication disturbers all around this forest, beginning with that wooden wall. They disrupted all communication fields, including any tracking devices you might have." Temujin says.

I quickly look at my radar. Nothing's there. Whatever they set up, it also disturbed my radar as well.

"It was even fooling me as well. But now, since they idiotically told us, I'm trying to reconfigure the radar, fixing it so it shouldn't happen again." Anna comments.

"Good, we don't want anyone surprising us again. Thanks." I think back.

"No problem, but focus on the fight right now." She replies sharply.

I look to Mitch. "-So, my dear Via, should we take you back to the Empire now?"

"...Never, I'm not going back, Mitch!" Via shouts, sliding her daggers out of her sleeves, and spreading her wings, flying straight at him. She slices her left dagger diagonally across her brother's chest.

"How many..." He shouts, dodging the first attack.

Via suddenly disappears in a mist of particles, reappearing right behind him, slicing with her right dagger this time. "...Times must..." he continues, bringing his diamond sword up to reflect Via's attack, and her dagger bounces off his blade. But Via's magenta eyes flash purple and she disappears again, only to teleport right to the side of Mitch, and stabs her dagger to his gut.

"I say this..." Mitch continues, bringing his blade sideways to almost slice Via's hand off, only for her to teleport again, this time behind Mitch, bringing both of her daggers straight into his back.

"I am not Mitch... I am Revenge!" he shouts, and he whirls around, slicing at Via, and her daggers are knocked out of her hands. I see his eyes almost... lit up in crazy excitement. "And now, you are coming back with me!" he shouts triumphantly.

Via just looks at Mitch with fear... and hate. "Why would I come back with our parents MURDERER!" She scream loathingly and grabs her moon necklace, and it flashes into bright light. When it dies down, her silver bow is in place, and she nocks it, aims, and fires, all in a matter of seconds.

"...Via...don't you recall?" Mitch asks, almost hiding some sort of... anger, as he slices the arrow, knocking it out of course.

"What do you mean? You kill our father and stab our mother through the heart! How on earth would I forgive you, let alone come back with you!" She cries out, nocking another arrow.

"Quickly, charge at Mitch!" Jack cries out, eager not only for battle, but also to knock this guy out. And we're all in agreement, as we begin to run straight at Mitch, but then the soldiers suddenly form a wall, in front of us.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" I shout, and yell, "**Hack: Forcefield!**" No point in hiding our powers anymore, anyway. And soldiers in front of me are blown away. I quickly rush through before they could seal the wall of soldiers again.

I see everyone else either fighting, or already through the wall. Jones was actually electrocuting soldiers left and right, his redstone armor sparking. Michael were blowing soldiers away as well, with his wind powers. Amber were setting other soldiers alight with her sword, and they're all panicking, rolling around on the floor. While we were clearing the way, we got support by Holly and Scott, with their bows, striking the enemy. Jaila was quickly boosting us left and right, leaping higher than a normal person as she quickly takes down soldiers. Jack was by her side, guarding her back as he swings his sword in glee.

We all quickly begin to move straight at Mitch, and I shout, "Via, we're here-"

Via screams, "NO! STAY BACK, ALL OF YOU!"

I realize that she wasn't shouting at Mitch... but us. We all stop in our tracks.

"Via, wait, we can-" Holly begin to say-

"NO! THIS IS MY BROTHER, SO HE'S MY RESPONSIBILITY! HE KILLED MY PARENTS! So..." She suddenly drops in a quiet whisper, tears running down her face, "I need to get revenge for my parents... ON YOU!" She screams at Mitch, and she fires another time.

But Mitch again dodges it, almost sidestepping it. And he mutters,

"...You were the person to do that..."

Via freezes up, still holding her bow. "W-what?"

"Y-you were the one who killed them. And somehow... they did not respawned."

"N-no...w-what..."She stammers, "Y-you..."

Her bow vanishes, back into her necklace again.

I was just staring at Via and Mitch in shock, and out of the corner of my eyes I see everyone else doing the same.

"And now... you have to repay for your crimes. Come back to the Empire." He commands.

"No...What you're saying..." Via stammers, "It can't... "

"There were guards there. Do you not remember?" He asks, "Well, if you don't, that would make sense. You want to run away from the guilt from it all. So, you ran away in your little mind. But you can't escape from the truth, my dear sister." He narrows his eyes, pure hate directed at Via. "You killed them. So you should pay for that crime."

"N-N-No...I can't..."

"Accept it. If you try to run away, try to hide, from the fact that you killed them in cold blood..."

"No. You... You can't be telling the truth. You were the one to kill our parents, not me. I still remember fully... please, everyone, don't believe his lies!" she turns to us, pleading.

"Via... did you tell them that I was responsible? It was all your fault in the first place. Stop running away. Take full responsibility."

"...Look, Via..." I mutter.

"...Please... don't say that you don't trust me anymore... I know that we only worked together for a month... but you guys were the only friends I had, the entire time. We had so much fun together, even while training. We fought together, we laughed together... so please, don't think that I lied to you!" She looks down, tears being to fall even faster.

"Via. How can you think that?" I ask.

"Huh?" She looks up, hesitant, almost stunned.

I smile, "Do you really think friendship can be destroyed by a person the rest of us barely knows?"

She looks at me in shock, almost in... amazement.

"Look, you may know you're brother pretty well, but we don't. That's why we're going to trust you more than what... well, a stranger says to us. I count all of you guys as my friends. You all helped me get back under control that time, and I seriously... can't even begin to say how much I am thankful. But let me begin, by saying... Via, you're my friend. Don't you dare think a single person can break the friendship we formed."

Everyone else was nodding, while still fighting, but were giving Via smiles of friends.

"...Heh...Heheh..." Suddenly, Via's brother starts laughing, "Hahaha! I can see that you're going to try to stop me...even though I have about a hundred soldiers... and some friends. Rolo! Gland! Now!"

"MOVE!" I hear Anna shout, and I quickly spin around, to see a flying piece of TNT.

"Hit the deck!" I yell to the others, rushing ahead towards the TNT, making my sword go back into my inventory, and quickly shouting, "**Hack: Fireball!**" As the fireball charges in my hand, I throw it prematurely, and the little ball of fire hits the TNT block, exploding, and rendering the blast useless.

I hear a shout from ahead, "Oh come on! I was hoping to get the cyborg for yah, Gland, but he managed to destroy the shot."

Another shout, "I'm going to destroy him!" Suddenly, a fist hits me in the chest, followed by a person...

With a red visor over his left eye.

"Cyborg!" I thought immediately, and I retreated, quickly analyzing the new opponent. With brown hair whipping around, and grey dull eyes, I quickly see that he was also had metal all over his left side of his body, and had a completely metal left arm, almost like he was in a explosion from his left, and was rebuilt... kind of.

"Who the heck are you?" I ask loudly, hands into fists, preparing for his next attack.

He stares at me coldly, and then suddenly thrusts his left hand forwards...

And it explodes into wires, which wraps around my left arm.

"Gah!" I shout in surprise, but suddenly he pulls, and I get dragged down to the ground.

"**Absorb**!" He shouts, and I begin to feel... weaker... with alarm, I notice my energy bar going down fast.

I think quickly, summon my diamond sword in my right hand, and swing at the wires. They sliced apart like butter, and he suddenly cringes, and screams in pain.

I flip up, summoning a "**Hack: Forcefield!**"

I notice that his arm, while already healed, seemed to be... red-hot. He looks at me with pure hatred, and his arm transforms into a sword, and swings at me.

It glances off the force field, but he attacks with rapid swings, and my energy filler was slowly going down. I need to strike-

"Got yah!" I hear a shout from underneath, and suddenly, the floor underneath me explodes.

As I fall, I quickly think, "**Hack: Fly!**" and I float midair. I quickly zoom up, surprising both my opponent, and my hidden attacker.

Another shout, "Just what the heck is this guy?"

I land, and I quietly announce, "Just give up."

My opponent shouts, "No way... you're a cyborg, and I can only be the cyborg warrior here!" and starts attacking me again, with even more rapid strikes...

And my force field shatters.

I widen my eyes, and he thrusts his sword at me as I was frozen with shock-

But only for a second. I quickly recover, and leaned to the side, his blade just scratching my face.

"Grr..." He growls, but I jump back, shouting, "**Hack: Fireball!**"

As the fireball charges, he leaps at me, swinging his sword, but I push my fireball forwards, sending it flying straight at him.

"G-Gah!" He shouts, as he gets blown backwards, and I rush in, "**Hack: FirePunch!**" punching him with my left arm, pushing him back. He stumbles and falls.

I hear a explosion, shouts, and the scraping sound of metal on metal, as my friends fought various enemies around me.

I spin around, ready for my next opponent...

And in the corner of my eye, I see Via, on the ground, about to be stabbed by her own brother.

"NO!" I shout.

* * *

><p>P.O.V: Via – A few minutes ago.<p>

All of my friends are still fighting, even though brother told them... whatever lie he gotten from the Empire.

They still believe in me. That I'm telling the truth... that I'm still their friend.

And I... know myself, I know my mind. And I know that he was the one... so why can't he remember? Why does he think that I was the one who-

"Rolo, Gland, Now!" Mitch shouts, and then I hear yells from my friends. I turn to them, I need to go and help-

"Stay where you are. Now, at the very least, we won't have any interruptions."

"..." I groan in frustration. "Mitch, please tell me why-"

"I already told you, I'm Revenge!" He shouts, charging straight at me.

I quickly raise up my daggers, weaving around him, but he slices at me. I use my Ender powers to dodge, teleporting away and around him.

"Well, you're a pest." Keep still, RIGHT NOW!" He shouts as he throws something at me. It whips around, and grasped my throat. A collar, attached to his glove?

"Ah!" I cry out, but then...

Purple electricity flows upwards, from his hand.

"No! Not again- AHHH!" I scream in pain.

As I scream in pain, I barely hear my brother say, "Oh? This hurts you?" He comments sarcastically. "Funny, it's pure Ender energy. This should, in fact, give you more power."

I could only fall backwards, as I tear up. He knows... about what they did to me...

Why doesn't he care?

As I lay on the ground, I could have sworn I heard a shout. But I only glaze up into the cloudy night sky.

My brother walks into my vision of view, with one of my own daggers, Araetemes, in his hand.  
>"So, I wonder how this is going to work... you're about to get killed by the very dagger your mom gave you before you killed her."<p>

"...Mitch, you have to know, I wasn't the one who did it, I swear-"

"Shut up, and receive your just punishment. You will feel the pain of death, but not be actually dead... I wonder how that would feel."

"...Brother..."

"Didn't I just say shut up?" He asks, as he kneels down and scratches my cheek with the blade.  
>I shut my eyes... I now could only hope that this was a nightmare...<p>

"Now, die."

"NO WAY!" I hear a familiar shout.

I open my eyes wide.

And I find Zero, engulfed in a fiery red aura, punching my brother away from me in his face.

He eyes were so intense, I though I might get lost, just by glancing at them.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HURT HER! NOT WHILE I LIVE!" He screams.

I gasp, frozen with shock.

...He... he still...cares?

* * *

><p>P.O.V: Zero – A few seconds earlier.<p>

"**Hack: Timer!**" I yell, slowing down my perception of time.  
>Damn it, I need to get to Via as fast as possible!<p>

"And then what?"

In my left side, Anna appears, looking directly at me.

"Whatever I might need to do to save Via!"  
>"You might be swarmed by a hundred Empire soldiers, plus, Mitch might have a power as well-"<p>

"I don't care! I need to protect Via, before she might die!"

Anna stays silent for a few seconds (my time), as I slowly run towards Mitch in slow motion, about to activate my Speed Hack.

"Wait. I need to tell you something."

"What?" I think impatiently.

"A Hack."

And code stream over my eyes, before ending with two words.

"Either shout or think those words. It will release your hidden power, and remove our limiter. But, you'll have the count of ten."

"...That should be enough. Thanks," I quickly think back, and then I shout:

"**HACK: OVERLOAD!**"

I explode into a fiery red aura, my power rising.

"NO WAY!" I shout, charging straight at Mitch. He turns in shock before I punch him away from Via.

"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HURT HER! NOT WHILE I LIVE!"

"**10!**" A loud announcement shouted into the air. My timer.

"Gah! What...what is- Argh!" Via's brother screams as I sidekick him directly in the gut, sending him flying away.

"**9!**"

"You don't deserve to be Via's brother! You should just get away from her, as far as possible!" I yell, as I fly straight after him, chasing him.

His eyes widen in shock, but then he raises his right hand, his diamond sword rising up, blocking.

"**8!**"

I summon my diamond sword from my inventory, slashing downwards at his head. His sword rises up to block it, and it glances off.

"**7!**"

"Get out of my way!" He screams, swinging at my left side. I turn, blade crossing blade, and blocking his attack.

"No way!" I shout, "You will not hurt her! I'm not going to let you do that!"

"**6!**"

"**Hack: Fireball!**" I yell, the fireball forming instantly, and I push it straight at Mitch. He jumps over my fireball, and it explodes, the force of the blast behind him pushing him to me.  
>"<strong>5!<strong>"

"Gah!" He shouts, as I run up and stab him, only for him to quickly parry my sword. It cuts him at the cheek. "You're nothing!" He shouts, obviously panicking, "You're just a rebel! Rebels shouldn't have this kind of ability; the Holy Empire is superior!"

"**4!**"

"Am I? I can't be nothing; because you're getting destroyed by me! **Hack: KillAura!**" I shout as I swing, my sword becoming a wild storm as I strike at him too many times for me to count. He tries blocking them, but gives up and backpedals, cuts on his face, arms, and legs like he walked through a thorn bush.  
>"<strong>3!<strong>"

"Listen up, Mitch! I'm only going to say this once!" I cry out, as he raises his sword in a blocking position, panting heavily.

"**2!**"

"The only thing you can do now is give up." I announce, as I charge another fireball in my hand. "Retreat, or else I'll finish you!"  
>"<strong>1!<strong>"

"Damn it... Retreat!" He commands to the rest of his troops, grabbing a crystal out of his right hand, and grips it tightly. "Warp: Spawn!" He shouts, and I stare at him as he disappears. The last thing I see are his vengeful eyes.

"**Time is up.**"

Suddenly, I feel like my strength just...vanish, disappear, and I collapse on the ground.

Warping sounds echo around the plain, as various Empire troops realized that their leader had retreated.

The last thing I feel is someone shaking me, shouting:

"Zero! Zero, get up!"

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

...Don't say a word...

I know that I did not upload for... a bajillion years.

Had to do a lot of work... millions of tests... etc etc.

However, the Hacker will continue for a very long time. I have no intention of stopping it halfway.

Anyway, four things:

1. Hope that the characters that you, dear audience, submitted to me were to your liking.

2. That I (still...) need a co-author, or even a beta reader!

3. That I am planning (for a unknown amount of time) to make a massive project based on this fanfic.

4. Kinda...need fanart, even though it might be a little too soon.

Anyway, thank you guys for continuing to support The Hacker, and see you guys next time!

(Also, I will try to upload faster...but no promises).


	26. Chapter 26: Waking up again?

Chapter 26: Waking up again?

_"__If someone you care for is fighting against you, would you fight back? Can you even fight back?"_

* * *

><p>-Chapter 26-<p>

POV: Zero

...Now rebooting system. Full Body Scan active. No damaged systems detected. No damage detected. Note: Unusual power scale detected. User might suffer after effects for a short period of time. Reactivating is now in process. 100% systems are now online. User is now reactivating. System... start!

"...Ahhh..." I moan, grabbing my head. Random code streams in front of my vision, and I reach up, waving at them, as if I could wipe them away.

I sit up, in the warm, comfortable, soft, bed... Argh, I must be really sleepy.

"You're up?" I hear a familiar voice besides me. I turn, and find Shadow sitting down in a wooden chair, arms, and legs crossed, eyes closed.

"...Shadow. W-what happened?" I ask weakly.

She smiles, looking at me, "Well, I'm impressed. Even though you guys unexpectedly fought a forwards Empire scout station, you handled it really well."

I then remembered what happened, with Mitch... no, Revenge, and those Empire soldiers. They ambushed us! "Is everyone alright?" I ask quickly. I hope that they're okay-

"They're fine. All of them were unharmed. In fact, they were proving themselves on the battlefield. A team with me and I saw all of that, as we were rushing in to help."

"...How did you know we were being attacked?"

"We were following you guys the whole way. I know that your radar has a limit on it, so we were about 300 meters away from you. Glad to see that we arrived in time, but...damn it!" She suddenly shouts in frustration, slamming her fist into her other hand, "I wish we just checked first! We should have sent a more experienced team-"

"Don't worry. What's past is in the past. Anyway, is everyone all right?"

"...No one's hurt... but still, I should have known-"

"Shadow. You can't predict the future."

"..."

She's being really harsh on herself...

"Shadow. There is a time when a baby bird has to fly. No one know when that might be, but it happens unexpectedly, and that's when the bird has to learn on the go."

"...First off, when did you ever became a philosopher?"

"It was the first thing in my head, because there's a bird on the windowsill." I pointed.  
>"...Hmm?" She turns around, to see a red bird hoping about on the windowsill, before the bird takes off.<p>

"...We're underground right now... anyway, second off, did you just compared yourself to a baby bird?"

"...Well, at the very least, no one was hurt." Completely trying to avoid the question as a pattern of words kept repeating in my head, "Changing the topic, changing the topic!"

"And we completely stopped that Empire advance group. That's good!" I try to relax, lying back down, when someone popped into my head. "Wait... what about Via?"

"...I was...getting to that," She sighs, "...Via is... well...it's hard to explain."

I begin to try to get up, removing my sheets, only for Shadow to put her hand on my chest. "Woah! Don't even try to get up! I don't know what sort of damage or effect you got from that battle."

"I don't care about that, Shadow! I need to see Via, to know if she's alright! If not, at the very least, what I can do to help!"

"...I know, but... I already tried talking to her, but she just withdrawn herself from the world... it's impossible to talk to her right now."

I quickly look at one of my hacks."...Got her." I mutter.  
>"...Huh?" She asks.<p>

"If you're not going to tell me where she is, I'm going to find her myself." I start to get up again, but Shadow pushes me down back. "Shadow, come on!"

"Look, I am going to tell you where she is, but right now, I need you to explain that." She points at my left hand.

"...What do you-" I ponder, looking down, when I see it.

A red gem in the back of my hand.

"...Gaaah! When did this get here!" I cry out, waving my hand in the air, as if I could shake it off.

"It appeared after your... power surge wore off. That was a power surge, right?" She asks me tentatively.

"...I'm not really sure myself. I just wanted to protect Via from her brother, before anyone could hurt her..." Was it my imagination, but did Shadow looked a little sad when I said that?

I continue talking anyway, "...So Anna gave me that hack... but, it felt... different."

"...Really? How was it different?"

"...I don't know... like it was connecting me with something much deeper."  
>"What you were connecting to would be your power core." Anna pips up, appearing from the red gem in my hand."<p>

"...When could you-" I begin to ask.

"This gem, sort of, also acts as a pretty good working holographic projector. But anyway, about your power core."  
>"What about it?" Shadow asks.<p>

"So, I wasn't satisfied with what your system was telling me earlier on. I mean, a living being with the ability to generate power with no negative effects, no setbacks, nor any problems whatsoever, well...it seemed impossible. So, I began to test your power a little deeper, and it revealed this."  
>Her form was replaced with a red block shining from the gem.<p>

"This is your true power source." She continues. "It's something called a Core Block. Apparently, this is the Redstonian Core Block."

Shadow gapes at the hologram, shocked. She mutters, "I heard of this kind of thing before..."

"You do?" I ask.

"Only in legends. I didn't even believed that it existed. But the Redstonian Core Block is supposed to be the source of this world."

"Source?"

"The source of this world, the place where it sprang from; built around this block at its center."

"...Why do I have it?"

"I have no idea," Shadow replies, turning to the window, "but this Core Block is where Notch stored the 'Source Code'. While there are other worlds, this Block represents the dreams which Notch used to create this world in particular. It also supposed to have some sort of unimaginable power."

"...That seems overkill..." I mutter

"It is basically what your systems rely on as power." Anna continues, "...But, it also relies on what you can do."  
>"What do you mean?"<p>

"I mean that there is a limit to how much power you can handle. Remember your power meter? Your power meter actually shows your limit of the amount of power you can handle, not your actual power. Think of it as more of your stamina bar, alright? Also, the fact that your power increases due to any strong emotions means that this Core Block responds to your emotions, increasing in strength. But, the thing is, there are so many power limiters place around this Core Block that it's ridiculous. I only removed the first limiter, and look how much stronger you got!"

"...Then why put a ten second limit onto my hack?"

"Because you can't handle it. You passed out after using the Overload hack, and if you tried to use the hack any longer, your body might've died, consumed by the Core Block's power."

"...Wait, What!" Shadow shouts. "Zero!" She turns, staring sharply straight at me.

"U-Um-w-what?" I stammer, her eyes fiercely burning.

"Don't ever risk your life like that!"

"...Eeeh! Wait, I didn't know, alright! I had no idea that it might've killed me!"

"Still, Anna, why didn't you tell Zero about the danger!"

"-W-What! I didn't have enough time to tell Zero that it might've killed him! He was rushing headfirst into battle after all!"

"...Still, next time, make sure that Zero acts more carefully, alright?" She requests, sighing.

"...Shadow," I couldn't help but wonder, "...Why are you worrying?"  
>She looks straight at me, completely serious, "Because, you might be the turning point of this war."<p>

Oh...

"And, because I care about you guys, alright?"

...

"Now, come on, let's go find Via, alright?"

Shadow does really care about her trainees, doesn't she...

"Right." I reply.

* * *

><p>At the top of the Governmental Center was some sort of black shadow. At the very least, it seemed like that to most people.<p>

But to Shadow and me, we both knew that 'shadow' was our friend...

"Via." I spoke softly.

Her black-feathered wings were covering the rest of her body, acting as a shield from the outside world. The only thing I could really see clearly was her face.

Shadow and me were both standing on the roof, and Via was crouched down, in a small ball. Since Via wasn't talking to Shadow, it was up to me.

"..."

"...Via, come on-"

"Leave me alone..." I hear a moan from her.

"...Fine, I won't talk to you. I'm just going to sit next to you, alright?" And before she could respond, I settle down, my legs hanging off the edge, and I lean backwards against a wall.

"...I don't want anyone around me, Zero..."

"Why not?"

"...Because..."

After a long pause, I ask, "How are you feeling?"

"What did I just say?"

"...I know, but... I need to know how you're feeling."

She laughs weakly, "Oh, I'm fine, apart from the fact that my own brother tried to kill me. Oh, and," She begins sobbing, "Tortured me as well!"

"Via. I'm... I'm sorry-

"It's not your fault, Zero."

Another long pause.

"...I'm sorry about asking about this, but... I need to know something. It seemed like you looked up to your brother, before he..."

"...Killed my parents. I know. But... before, it was like he had no kind of self-control... like someone was using a remote to move my brother's... Mitch's body. At the very least, that's was what I hoped, that my brother wasn't doing it willingly, because no one I have seen, not even my brother, ever had that blank look... except for the labs of the Empire."

"...But now-"  
>"But now, it seems like he's working willingly... damn it, he's fighting for them!" She screams in frustration, "He's wants to fight for those damn people, to capture, to kill! And... He freaking enjoys it!"<p>

"Via-"  
>"He loves it, Zero! I've seen his face, while he was about to stab me, his own sister, and he wasn't just smiling, he was taunting me, laughing, even torturing me with the same device I had to suffer for a month! The worse month I ever had in my entire life!"<p>

"...I can't even imagine what happened to you in that month... but, you're still alive, right?"

"Alive? If this is my life... then... I want death. I could just jump off this building and leave everything, all my pain, and suffering behind. I know I should respawn, but... there's always that chance that it doesn't work. That I would die permanently. Or, that the Empire messes up, and kills me-"

"...Argh, Via, stop talking like that!" I shout angrily, turning to her, "Don't even think about dying!"

"...It... Really seems like the only option-"  
>"It's not! Do you really think that death is a option for any of us? We can't die, we just respawn, but in the Empire's hands!"<p>

She just stares ahead, barely any expression on her face. Her eyes were dimmed, almost all of her willpower gone.  
>"...Alright, I can't take anymore of this," I say softly, and I get up and leap at Via. She lifts her wings quickly to see me falling at her.<p>

"Wait- Ah!" She shouts in shock as we both collapse in a heap on the ground, me at the bottom, and her above me.

"..."

"...What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug," I respond, my arms around her.

"...Why?" She asks slowly.

"Because you need one."

"...Okay..." She replies, wrapping her wings around us.

"There's still hope, alright. Your brother may still be under control. You still remember, don't you? That it was your brother, not you, that killed your parents."

"Of course I remember that-"  
>"Then, that means that your brother, was fed a false memory. He said that it was your fault when it wasn't, when he was the one who... did that. So that means that he can still be saved. That we can open his eyes to the truth. So please... don't give up just yet."<p>

"...But... I don't even know anymore... I am sure that it was him... but... was it really my fault-"  
>"Don't even think about that! Why would the Empire give you that kind of memory, of him killing your parents, and then letting you go! What happened that night wasn't a false memory, it's not even Mitch's fault, but it was the Empire!"<p>

"..." Silence.

And then, a voice, small, but hopeful, "I believe you. I have to..."

I smile in the dark, "So... don't give in so easily. Come on, you're Via! You endured so many things, that you are one of the most powerful, and scary, girls that I know."

A moment of silence... and then...

"...You know, after this, I'm going to push you off the roof." She says softly.

I smile. It's good to see Via, slowly, but surely getting herself back. "I'm fine with that."

* * *

><p>After some time, we both stand up. I notice that Via still had red eyes from crying.<p>

"You are all right... right?" I ask carefully.

"...Zero."

"Yeah?"

"...Don't think that I'm healed yet. I'm not even sure what to think about my brother anymore. I'm not even sure if I can fight him."

"Then I would fight him for you."

"...I just want my brother back... so I'm not sure how to think about that..."

"...Oh..." I look to the side, confused. Did... did what I said even help?

"But... thanks."  
>"For?" I ask, glancing at her.<p>

She smiles, "For giving me hope."

Shadow walks over, and suddenly hugs Via, tightly. "I'm glad to see that you're yourself again."

"W-What's with... all the- hugging... you guys!" She chokes out.

As Shadow let her go, I couldn't help but begin to laugh. And that started a laughing chain, friends among friends, all of us enjoying a moment.

Of course, that couldn't last forever.

My system suddenly beeps, words appearing on my HUD, "Warning, Projectile detected."

Projectile?

I quickly spin around, to find-

I grab the arrow coming straight at my head, snatching it out of the air.

"...We're under attack!" I shout in alarm, and Via and Shadow look at the arrow, suddenly serious.

"How did an assassin get into the faction?" Shadow says in alarm.

"I don't know! What matters is where did that arrow come from?" Via cries out.

Throughout this conversation, Anna and me were running through calculations, estimating on where the arrow came from, until-

"I got the assassin's location. Via, stay here with Shadow in case there's more."  
>"Oh, hang on, you are not leaving us-"<p>

"**Hack: Speed!**"

__!_ As I accelerate from zero meter per second to fifty in a moment, the air itself splits apart, creating a slipstream behind me.

I just catch what Shadow was saying behind me as I run.

"...Behind..."

My vision changes, the location of hundreds of people running through my eyes before I finally see a unknown entity around the firing point.

"There!" I think, as I leap across from building to building, jumping across an entire street. Through my real eyes, I see a cloaked figure, holding a bow, nocking another arrow.

"You can't run!" I shout before summoning my sword and swinging down, attacking from above.

They jump backwards, dropping the bow. My momentum sends my sword into the ground, slicing the bow in two.

"Grr," I growl, as they flip in the air silently, reaching for something on their back.

I bring my sword upwards, to attack, but then something flies at me. I quickly reach for it with my left hand, slowing my perception of time, and in slow-motion, I find an axe flipping around and around, slowly flying at me.

"You're not killing me that easily!" I charge, and grab the axe at the right moment. With the axe in my left hand, I stab with my sword-

They jump backwards again!

"Hey! Stop running away!" I shout, charging forwards. Whoever this assassin is, they're getting really annoying...

They already had another axe, probably from their back, axe up and already in front of them.

We charge at each other.

Both of us kept on fighting against each other in this deadly dance, each of us both defending and attacking, trying to reach into some sort of opening...

There!

"Hah!" I shout in triumph, hooking my new axe into their axe, pulling hard.

They let go of it, turning around and running away.

"Oh no you don't," I mutter, quickly turning on my speed hack, and immediately pulling on their cloak, hard.

"Ah!" A girl's scream echoed into the air.

"So, she's female..." Anna comments.

"Not really important..." I think back as she falls backwards.

I stand above her, quickly holding her down. As she struggles around, her green eyes were wide with panic.

"Let me go!" She cries out.

"I don't think so. You just tried to kill me, remember?"

"Look, you just got in the way, so can't you just let go of a grudge?"

"As if I would forgive you that easily. You were targeting one of my friends, weren't you?"

"...Depends on who you call a friend."

"Who sent you?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"...The Empire."

"Ding, ding, ding! Correct!" she mockingly mutters.

"So, I guess you wanted to try to kill one of us, so that you could get information when they respawn in The Empire."

"Wow... you're really smart," she sarcastically mutters, again, rolling her eyes.

"You have some nerve to be cheeky now."

"Well, I can't exactly escape now, and there's no point being afraid. I failed in my mission."

I suddenly feel someone hand on my shoulder.

"So, you caught her," Shadow comments in my ear, "Nice job-"

"But next time don't leave us behind like that!" Via shouts, smacking me in my head.

"Ow! Hey, what the heck!" I yell, holding my head.

"We both don't like being left behind, you know," Shadow calmly says.

"You didn't have to hit me, Via..."

"Well, you running ahead, telling us to stay behind implies that we girls can't take care of ourselves!" Via shouts, her eyes turning magenta, sparking with anger.

"I didn't implied anything like that! I was just worried about you two!"

"And you didn't think that we can take care of ourselves!"

While me and Via were...quarreling... Shadow kneels down next to the assassin.

"You were trying to kill one of us...so you're from The Empire."

"What does it look like?" She laughs.

"I wonder how you got in here in the first place...Ah well, we will find out soon..."

"As if I would tell you anything."

"You're awfully calm for someone who was captured by the enemy."

"Anyway, you blasphemous rebel are just going to kill me. You can't get anything from me in the first place."

"Nope. We're not going to kill you."

"...Wait, what!?"

"We're not going to kill you, because you know exactly where our base is. If we kill you, you just respawn. So," Shadow smiles, "We're just going to keep you here."

"Wait, you can't just-"

"Yes, we can. This isn't personal. It's just for our faction's safety."

"..."

Meanwhile...

"Look, Via, I'm sorry, alright?"

"...Fine. I still owe you for helping me... before."

"So...are we good?"

She smiles, "Okay... but, just one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Turn around for a sec."

"Alright..." I say, turning around.

And I feel her hands on my back.

...Wait...

_"__...You know, after this, I'm going to push you off the roof."_

Oh no-

And true to her word, Via pushes me off the roof.

"See yah!" She cries out cheerfully.

"Aaaaahhh!" I yell in shock, before crashing into some hay bales on the ground.

...Wait...hay?

"Neigh!"

...Oh come on-

And the horse in front of me kicks me across the street, into the store on the other side.

* * *

><p>AN: DID YOU GUYS SEE THE ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE MICROSOFT HOLOLENS! IT IS EPIC!<p>

You know, I can't even believe that Microsoft was planning this far with Minecraft...

Still, it's a new way to play, right?

Anyway... Sorry about not updating in forever... I didn't have enough time to work on this.

Looking for quicker ways to create chapters.

Also, working on other projects.

Anyway, see you guys next time!

To all those who haven't seen their characters yet:

They are in. I'm just planning to bring them into the stories at a specific point. Be patient.


	27. Chapter 27: X - ALSO I AM NOT DEAD!

Chapter 27: X

_How much can you trust someone you don't even know... if they are your leader?_

* * *

><p>-Chapter 27-<p>

_"__So, this assassin, somehow, found our base."_

_"__How did they even get in here in the first place!"_

_"__While this is... alarming, at the very least she can't escape now. Still... this bothers me. How did they find it in the first place?"_

_"__I don't know for sure, X. She's not talking."_

_"__...Still, she can't run away. Make sure she doesn't try to kill herself and respawn, alright?"_

_"__Of course."_

_"__And now, this leads to another matter. The fact that she found our faction in the first place."_

_"__Most likely she followed the Resilience group after they were going back to the faction. Two of them were knocked out, so you can see how it was hard to hide their trail."_

_"__Any sort of communication devices on her?"_

_"__Nothing we can find."_

_"__Good."_

_"__Well, Shadow, how does it feel to be imperfect?"_

_"__I have no idea what you are talking about, Ender. I was more focused on helping the recruits than hiding our trail."_

_"__And because of that, you risked the lives of one thousand people."_

_"__Enough. You two always argue in these meetings. The main issue here is what we do about it."_

_"__So, what do you suggest, X?"_

_"__...We can't do anything against the Empire yet. We just need to prepare for an attack, just in case."_

_"__We already have several defenses up, plus our own five hundred, battle ready soldiers. The rest of the faction can fight as well if necessary."_

_"__Good...But we can't move just yet. We ran out of backup bases, and one thousand can't move instantly. Send about fifty builders, ten scouts, twenty soldiers, ten hunters, and ten farmers to quickly find a suitable location, and build a new base. At the very least, it has to sustain about five hundred people."_

_"__So, are we moving?"_

_"__Not yet... but even if The Empire doesn't know about our location, we may as well build a backup base. We should also assign guards to us as well."_

_"__Guards!"  
>"X, I am perfectly capable of defending myself against anyone-"<br>"Except Zero. You both lost to Zero, Zero taking you down with one blast, Ender."_

_"__...If he didn't had any powers, then taking Zero down would have been easy-"_

_"__And yet, that is not a world we live in. Stop dreaming in other worlds, Ender, and focus on the here and now. Zero has powers. And we also saw that there are others with unique powers as well. Can you defend against someone with that kind of power?"_

_"__I can."_

_"__...Shadow. You lost to-"_

_"__I know I lost to Zero. He had the element of surprise, which even the strongest of warriors could fall to the weakest of people, armed with surprise. If he did try to fight against me now, however, he will lose. Even with his Overload Hack."_

_"__...While that is true, there may be other warriors armed with powers, and they could easily take you out if they have the element of surprise. I rather prefer to play it safe. At the very least, the rest of you agree with this, right?"_

_"__Of course."  
>"Then from this point on, I will assign at the least one guard to each of you. I hope you agree with that-"<br>"Why can't we choose our own guard, at the very least?"_

_"__I can easily tell that you would have picked Zero. But, I rather preferred if we don't have any... people with special powers as guards. While they are powerful, and good recruits, you never know what the Empire might have done to them. In all of decisions, a leader always has to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst._

_...Anyway, Council dismissed."_

_..._

_"__Before you go, Shadow."_

_"__Yes?"_

_"__I wish to speak to Zero."_

_"__How come?"_

_"__Because he seems to be becoming quite... interesting."_

_"__...Interesting?"_

_"__His team managed to hold it's own against one hundred enemy soldiers. You have to find that interesting, at the very least."_

_"__True."  
>"And, he may be the very key of this war. The tide is slowly shifting in our favor."<em>

_"__And yet you still don't trust him to be my guard."  
>"There are still many factors we might not know about the... there isn't really a term for them, is there. For people with powers from the experiments of the Empire."<em>

_A smile._

_"__What about... the ReCoded?"_

_"__...I'm not sure if we should-"  
>"ReCoded sounds fine. People who had their very DNA changed, recoded in a way. However, we don't know everything about how exactly the ReCoded were changed. For all we know, there could be a unknown command where, with a certain spoken word, they would destroy everything around them. With the event of Zero rampaging in the forest, after being overcharged with lightning, you have to see how hard it is to think any other way."<em>

_"__...Fine. I'll tell Zero that you want to speak with him, X."_

_"__I'm glad that you agree with me, Shadow."_

* * *

><p>P.O.V: Zero<p>

My eyes are closed. I listen carefully, ready for the next attack.

As I settle my heart rate, I listen to my surroundings, waiting.

...

..._"Click."_

! There!

My eyes shoot open as my body tenses, the arrow's location, and trajectory, running through my head. I quickly jump to the side, and the arrow flies pass me.

"Is that all you got, Jones?"

What Jones and I were doing was testing, and pushing my own limits, using the Training Hall machines. The one we were using right now are dispensers around me, randomly popping up from the ground and shooting at me. My own goal is to dodge all of the arrows, for at least two minutes.

"Thirty seconds left, Zero! You know what that means, right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm firing them all!"

"Wait! That's-"  
>"Here we go!"<p>

Rapid clicking filled the air as all of the dispensers popped out, and began firing over and over. I quickly try to dodge in between them, but there was just too many!

"Damn it, I didn't want to use Hacks, but...**Hack: Killaura!**" I shout as my body tenses. All of the arrows fly at me, as I summon my diamond sword.

While all of my hacks are useful, there's only one downfall to my "ForceField" Hack. It can't deflect against projectiles like arrows. On the other hand, my sword can.

"Hah!" I yell in exertion, as my body goes into automatic. My sword slices through arrow after arrow, my brain already calculating the next arrow trajectory. One after another, the remains of the arrows fall to the ground. Even though the arrows' firing rate was increasing, I just kept pace, increasing my speed slowly.

"Alert: User is at the maximum limit of speed possible. User is advised to halt all strenuous activity."

"Not yet! **Hack: Overload!**"

It's been a week since the first time I used this hack. Ever since then, I've been trying to use it, over and over, despite Shadow telling me never to use it again. I needed to get stronger, somehow, so if I get used to this...

"**10!**"

My sword's speed increases, slicing through every arrow flying at me. My perception of time speeds up, the arrows slow down. It turns out that my Overload Hack is similar to both the Speed and Timer hacks combined.

"**9!**"

The difference is that my strength is increased, as well as my stamina. If I didn't have the 10-second countdown, I could keep on doing this for days.

"**8!**"

My only problem is what happens after the countdown ends. The first time I used the hack in the forest, I passed out for a day out of sheer exhaustion.

"**7!**"

I had to rest two days until I could use the hack. I passed out again, but I woke up twelve hours later. I had to rest for another day to use the hack.

"**6!**"

The third time, I passed out for six hours. I rested for twelve hours.

"**5!**"

The forth, three hours, and rested for six.

"**4!**"

The fifth, one and a half hours, and rested for 3.

"**3!**"

The sixth time, I passed out for forty-five minutes, and rested for one and a half hours.

"**2!**"

The seventh, twenty-two minutes, rested for forty-five.

"**1!**"

The eighth, eleven minutes, rested for twenty-two.

And now...

"**Time is up.**"

"G-GAH!" I yell in pain, before crashing to the ground.

The arrows immediately stop firing around me, as my vision is filled with random streams of code, working against the massive stamina lost.

I feverishly mutter, "C-Come on, and don't pass out-"

_Shutdown_.

* * *

><p>...Now rebooting system. Full Body Scan active. No damaged systems detected. No damage detected. User might suffer stamina lost for a short period of time. Reactivating is now in process. 100% systems are now online. User is now reactivating...<p>

* * *

><p>"...Don't say a thing, Jones."<p>

"I wasn't going to," he replies, offering me a hand.

As I reach up to grab it, I couldn't help but think.

...Damn it.

I passed out for five minutes this time.

Even though I did cut down the time I pass out by a sheer amount, I can't practically use this hack in combat yet. If I pass out in the middle of the fight, who knows what would happen afterwards.

Even with just five minutes, a minute... no, even a second, in a battle, a lot can happen.

In one of the training sessions with Shadow, I remember exactly what she said.

"...Even a fraction of a second can mean the difference between life and death on a battlefield."

If I passed out... then...

"Jones? I need to rest for eleven minutes now."

"That's fine with me. It gives me enough time to reset the dispensers."

"Right...and also, thanks for helping me with this."

"Hey, it's the least I can do. And besides, your powers are interesting to me as well. This gives me a opportunity to study them."

"...Is that really your reason for helping me? Yeesh, you need to stop acting more of a scientist..."

"So, I see that you both are utilizing the Training Hall with whatever," says a familiar voice from behind me.

"-Ack! Shadow?" Jones stammers in surprise. Sure enough, as I turn around, Shadow was standing there, as calm as ever.

"Don't worry. You can use it as much as you guys want. The reason I came here was because I... no, X, wants to speak to you."

"...Oh..."

* * *

><p>"So, finally, X wants to speak to me," I think.<p>

"Wonder what this is about," Anna pipes up.

"Don't know. What've you been up to recently, anyway? I haven't heard from you in the past week."

"What do you think? I've been managing your systems the entire time you've been training. Do you know how many times I had to keep you from dying?"

"Oh... sorry. But I have to get stronger somehow."

"Don't worry. Just don't push yourself too hard. Stay within the system perimeters."

"...You know I can't agree to that."

"Oh, and why not?"

"Because I need to get stronger."

"And now you sound like a broken record."

As Shadow and I walk through the dim-lighted hallway, I couldn't help but ask Shadow a question.

"Hey, Shadow."

"Yeah?"

"...How did this person, X, became the leader of this faction?"

"It's a long story, which I shouldn't say myself. Anyway, we're here."

We stop by a simple door, with one solitary guard.

"He's here to see X," Shadow sharply says, gesturing at me.

"Right. This way," the guard replies, opening the door.

"I already know," I grumble, before walking through into the dark room.

It was nearly pitch black. My eyes strained to see anything at all.

But all of a sudden, before I could turn on my "Night Vision" Hack, a whirl of pistons filled my ears, as lights blared into the room.

I squint at the sudden light change. As my eyes adjusted, I see a figure, wearing a cloak.

"Are you X?" I ask.

Then, he, or she, turned around swiftly, the cloak swirling around.

The person in front of me wore a cloak, and was wearing black, elegantly decorated, yet practical, clothes. But, the person was masked in a black helmet, with a white oval replacing where the face was.

"So, you are Zero," They respond. I still couldn't tell what gender they were, let alone knowing who they are. Their voice was distorted, which was probably caused by the helmet.

"That's me all right. And you're X."

"Correct. I am the leader of Downfall."

"I know that already. You don't have to tell me twice."

"I see that you have a... reckless nature. I hope, in the future, you will not cause trouble to my subordinates."

"I'm here to fight for you, right? Why would I cause trouble?" I say, sarcastically.

"...The truth of the matter is that you think that I'm cowardly, hiding behind a mask. And that irritates you. Am I correct?"

...How the...

"The fact is that, I hide behind a mask because I need to protect my identity. I can only imagine how much the Emperor would pay for the truth to who I am."

"...Right. I can see the logic," I respond.

"So, then. You know of our situation, right?"

"Of course. You guys are here to fight against the Empire, who is terrorizing people, both in and out of the Empire."

"That's... the gist of it. You haven't seen the numbers."

"I know for a fact that this faction has around one thousand active soldiers."

"Well then. Let me inform you of the rest:

"We know for a fact that the enemy has around twelve thousand, and five hundred members, which around eleven thousand are soldiers. We, on the other hand, have only a thousand soldiers, as you said before. However, there are nine other main factions that we know of, and we estimate that each one has one thousand active soldiers as well."

"And I guess that we don't exactly match up to them in forces alone."

They sigh. "Which is why we need an alliance. But while the chances of our victory would be higher, the tide can turn at any point. Since the Empire has complete control over the spawn, they can recall the lost soldiers, while we can't recover our soldiers. We need all the help we can get."

They pointed at me, "And because of that fact, we found you. We risked some of our best forces to infiltrate the Empire to find people like you. Via. Michael. Jade. Jaila. All of them, including you, who can take on about a hundred soldiers at once. You all have that potential, the potential to turn the tide against them."

I tense, "What if I don't want to fight?"

I hear a chuckle, "Oh, I'm sure that you want to fight the Empire, Zero."

I mutter, "...That's right. Whoever you are, you, at the very least got that fact right. I want to fight the Empire. I want to stop them from experimenting on people, attacking others factions when there could be peace treaties. They're trying to control everyone and everything. But no one should control the freedom of others." I summon my sword, raising it at them, "And if you try the same, well, I'll fight you as well. I'll defeat you if you try to control the freedom of others."

They didn't even flinch.

I turn, and left the room.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_...I'm glad that you haven't changed... But I'm surprised with your new name... Zero."_

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

I AM NOT DEAD! I JUST HAVE BEEN BUSY! WITH EVERYTHING! But I will be back to regularly posting content, finally!

Anyway, if you guys want to suggest something, or even just play with me on Minecraft, either review in the story with your suggestion, or just pm me if you want to hop on a server with me!

Also, I'm working on another thing! A new one!

You'll see it soon.

But anyway, see you guys next time!


	28. Chapter 28: Queen of Blades

Chapter 28: Queen of Blades

_A fighter is one that is willing to fight._

* * *

><p>P.O.V: Zero<p>

"God... damn it...(AN: NO SWEARING, ZERO!)," I swore in my head, walking past Shadow, and passing between the scores of people in the corridor, all of them rushing to various places in this building.

Suddenly, a loud voice shouted, "Make way for Ender, the War Commander of Downfall!"

Immediately, the crowd surge to the sides of the corridor, as two men are both ahead of Ender, smug looks on their face. Ender, on the other hand, looks... well... bothered, annoyed and tired all at the same time.

Of course, I stand there, right in the middle of the corridor, tensed. I'm already stressed both from training and talking to X... I don't want to deal with this now.

The guard on the left shouts, "Oh? You there, make way for Ender-"

"Enough..." Ender stressfully mutters.

"Yes, sir!" They both respond, saluting.

"Hello Zero. I didn't mean to create this much of a racket..."

"Hello there, Ender. So, who are the fans?" I respond, gesturing at both of the guards.

"Grr... How dare you disrespect-"

"Enough, Largo."

"...Yes, sir," he replies, grudgingly.

"Heh... I can't help but feel sorry for you, Ender. Despite our... differences." I smile.

"Normally, I would engage in battle with you right now..." Ender replies, sighing, "But... consider this an exception."

"Hmm? Why do you want to fight me in the first place?"

"Because, the way you surprised me and attacked about a month ago..."

"Well, next time, don't insult me," I replied, my left hand already in a fist. Out of the corner of my eye, I see some people slowly backing away. I can't blame them. Anyone can feel the tense atmosphere between us in this corridor.

"So, what's going on here?" Shadow walks up, right between the two of us.

"Oh. You're here, Shadow. Good, that leaves me one less thing to take care of," Ender comments, turning to Largo. "This man here is supposed to be your guard."

I immediately turn to Shadow. I didn't hear anything about guards!

"Hmm. This man?" Shadow comments, looking at Largo.

"Yes, Madam! I'm here to be your personal guard, by command of X!"

"Very well then... in that case, fight me."

"...Um... madam?" He stammers, confused.

Shadow smiles, drawing out her sword, "If X is going to assign a guard, they have to be able to defeat me."

A murmur goes through the crowd. I only catch snippets... but...

"...Wait, is the Queen of Blades going to fight..."

"...That poor guy... I wouldn't want to be in his place..."

"...Who wants to bet that he'll only last for thirty seconds against her..."

"...I say twenty..."

They were... well...

"So? Are you going to fight me?"

Largo looks downwards, shock coming from his green eyes. Then, his grip on his sword tightens.

"...I-I'll fight!" he shouts, pointing his sword at Shadow.

The crowd gets louder, shock and pity coming from all of them.

Her smile grew, "Oh? Well then. This should be fun." She replies, drawing out another blade!

Two blades? She's going to duel wield?

Duel wielding... fighters like that are rare. There's a reason why. Duel wielding requires extreme concentration, or so I heard. You need to pay attention to both of your blades at all times. If you forget about one, it can get in your way.

If someone can master it, that person is powerful on the battlefield. An opponent had to focus on both swords, instead of just one. One of your swords can be used for blocking, and the other for attacking, all at the same time. It's hard to try to fight against that with just one sword.

And Largo is apparently trying to fight against Shadow, to fight against two blades...

I also never knew that Shadow also had that title... Queen of Blades...

"Zero."

"Huh?" I look up, shaken out of my thoughts.

"I'll need you to be referee on this one. You're calling the start of this duel."

"Wait, you two are going to fight here!"

"Well, why not?" She calmly states, staring at Largo.

"We're in the middle of a corridor, with loads of people! You might hurt one of them!"

"Zero... what people?"

"What do you mean, what..." my voice trails off as I look around. There's barely anyone here, expect for me, Shadow, Ender, Largo, the other guard with Ender, as well as a small amount of people, looking around in a daze.

Did most of them... just... ran?

"So anyway, it's your call. Tell us when the match starts."

"Uh...Okay..." I mutter, slightly confused.

"Ready? Three..."

Shadow stares at Largo, analyzing her opponent. On the other hand, Largo's sword is slightly shaking, Largo himself breathing heavily.

"Two..."

Then, suddenly, Largo calms himself down. He looks ready, and even slightly mad.

Shadow is cool and calm as ever, still analyzing.

"One..."

At this point, you can hear someone drop a pin in this corridor. The air felt stuffy, the pressure of this stare-off building up. I open my mouth.

"Go."

As they rush into each other, I blink.

And it was already over.

They already attacked each other. Both already passed the other.

Largo is just staring in disbelief at his sword. Shadow is smiling.

"-_Clink."_

And Largo's sword snaps, the blade falling off to the ground. All that was left was just his handle.

Shadow faces Largo. "If you're going to try to attack me with your spare dagger, don't even bother. I already took that," she states, as she tosses the said dagger in the air.

"W-What? How did you-"

"Your blade is weak. I would have taken more care of it in the future... Though, since the blade is made of gold, I wouldn't even try to use it."

"...You..." Largo mutters through clenched teeth.

"Next time, actually come prepared, if you wanted to become my guard."

"How was I supposed to know?" He shouts, angrily.

"Exactly my point. Another reason why you would never become my guard," she replies, turning around.

"Because, you weren't ready."

She walks down the corridor, sliding her blades into their scabbards on her back.

I hear some mutterings from the remaining crowd...

"...So, Largo wasn't even prepared for this..."

"As always as expected from the Queen of Blades, Shadow..."

"Hmm... He looks devastated..."

Largo just stares at the floor, still clenching the handle.

I glance at him, but I knew that I had to go and train. So I ran after Shadow.

* * *

><p><em>"<em>_What did you just do to your guard, Shadow?"_

_"__What guard?"_

_"__You know whom exactly I am talking about."_

_"__I have no idea whom you're talking about."_

_"__I'm talking about Largo! Do you even know what you have done to him?"_

_"Oh... that man that was such a weak fighter...I defeated him in a duel. He wanted to be my guard, so I tested him."_

_"He was supposed to be your guard anyway!"_

_"__Was, Ender?"_

_"__He's way too psychologically unstable now. He had a high ego, and was the son of a higher class family."_

_"I hate that system... Why base it on the Empire, with a system of high, middle, and low class?"_

_"__What does that have to do with anything?"_

_"I'm stating the fact that the system is the reason why Largo is-"_

_"__Enough. There's no point arguing over this anymore. Largo was unsuitable to Shadow's standards. We get your point, Shadow."_

_"I'm glad that you can see it-"_

_"But that doesn't give you the excuse to absolutely destroy soldiers. Play around with them, sure, but giving them the idea that they don't even have a chance of winning-"_

_"I'm just stating the obvious."_

_"Argh... Dealing with you two is like dealing with two mischievous children..."_

_"__Which one is your favorite, then?"_

_"__..."_

_"__Er... what was that, Ender?"_

_"__That... was meant as a joke, Shadow."_

_"__That wasn't funny to any of us."_

_"...Um...it was a little to me-"_

_"Be quiet, Smith."_

_"__I was only-"_

_"__Anyway. What is the status on the backup base, Jason?"_

_"__Hmm... Apparently, it's coming along fine. Or at least, that was the last transmission."_

_"__At the very least, that is one good piece of news..."_

_"__And I'm perfecting a system that Jones person suggested to me. The kid does have some good ideas, but the way he tries to build them needs... some refinement. I'm perfectly happy, though, putting him under my wing."_

_"__You're talking about Jones, of that Resilience team?"_

_"__Correct!"_

_"__What is the system that he suggested?"_

_"__A interesting little thing called an inventory glove. Apparently, the Recode Zero had a built in system called an inventory. Thus, that's the reason why he summon items such as swords, because he can take them out of electrical storage, and form them in the real world. Jones studied that system, and based the inventory glove on that system. And may I just say, he made it quite quickly too!"_

_"__You seem excited about this..."_

_"__Of course! This kind of thing would change combat style-"_

_"__You do realize that if Zero did come from the empire, then they would have this kind of gear as well-"_

_"__They haven't shown it, if they did have this kind of technology."_

_"Well, in any case, use it. It might come in handy-"_

_"My dear X, although I would love to make millions of it, we do not have the means to mass-produce this technology yet. We're still using swords and bows right now, and so is the Empire. You really think that any of us can reproduce a piece of advance technology from the Empire? We all know that they also do not have the means. And yet you believe that we can mass-produce the glove?"_

_"__In that case, find a way."_

_"__Oh great, and what does that supposed to-"_

_"Shadow, what about Zero himself? And Team Resilience? What are they doing right now?"_

_"Zero is training in the Training Hall... where else. His teammates are either training as well, or relaxing."_

_"And of the scout team, currently scouting a last known Empire camp?"_

_"...They haven't reported in... for a while..."_

_"__...Shadow, get a rapid-response team in their last reported location. I don't like the unknown."_

_"Which team would that be, X?"_

_"Your choice, but I know which team you are going to choose. And I say that they might be the ones who can power through whatever happened to that team."_

_"How would you know the scout team would be disabled-"_

_"All I have to say to that, Smith, is that if they we not disabled, then they would have contracted us already. Isn't it obvious to you?"_

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

Author: Do I have to say it?

Author: Okay... I wanted to say it anyway.

*Huge inhale of breath*

**SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK SUMMER BREAK!**

*Huge intake of air*

**SUMMER-**

*The Spam Police breaks into my office*

SP: STOP RIGHT THERE!

A: But it's summer-

SP: HE'S GOING TO DO IT AGAIN! OPEN FIRE!

*Author gets shot by a Taser gun.*

*As the author is stunned, a hole opens below the Spam Police, sending them back home with both of their minds wiped. Zero walks into the room.*

Zero: ...Seriously...

A: W-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-w-what?

Zero: ...Just... don't do that again...

A: But it's summer-

Zero: STOP!

*Author gets hit by a fireball and is sent flying.*

Zero: ...Are you good now?

Author: ...well...

*Huge intake of air*

Zero: NO! BAD AUTHOR, BAD!

*Author gets hit by a fireball and is sent flying. Again.*

Author: ...Fine, I get your point...

Zero: Good.

Author: But anyway, I'm sorry for posting so late. I've been trying to work on this for ages, but exams keep getting in the way. But now, I'm back.

*Puts on sunglasses*

Author: In force.

Zero: ...Was that meant to be a pun?

Author: *Taking off sunglasses*, no? I never figured out how that thing worked. Anyway, to my audience, thank you for sticking with me for so long. And now, I will do my best to entertain you all! See you next time!

In all seriousness, to anyone who sent in a character that hasn't appeared yet. They are appearing. And they will be here. Just please be patient.

Also, if this isn't long enough, I will try to make most of my future posts longer. It's going to take me a while to think how.

But throughout the year, I've been thinking of the storyline, writing down ideas, and now I'm ready to keep on writing. Anyway, see you later.

iBoy


End file.
